The Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT) board held its inaugural meeting of the term yesterday and the newly elected members unanimously appointed the former international rugby referee as its president.
The meeting also marked the first meeting of Graham Hawkes and Sheree Carey as members — they joined re-elected members Mr O’Brien, Sean Bellew, Suzanne Prentice and Angela Newell.
Mr O’Brien, who has been a member of the trust since 2016, said he was honoured and excited about the challenge.
In his inaugural speech, he remembered the board values and asked members to be open and transparent and have trust in each other.
"I will only make one promise to you and that is that I will give 100% and I ask in return that you give it 100%," he said to his fellow members.
He would like all members to have governance training as well as sharing some of the public responsibilities with fellow members as it was not to be a "one-man show", Mr O’Brien said.
The organisation was in a good shape after a few difficult years due to Covid-19 and the recent opening of The Langlands Hotel.
"I think it is time to catch a breath but we also continue to look forward."
