One of New Zealand’s most recognisable news figures, Wendy Petrie is a journalist and television presenter whose career has spanned major global events and the country’s biggest news stories.
Growing up in Manurewa, Wendy began her journalism career overseas as an anchor for CTV in Toronto, covering major stories like the September 11 attacks live from New York.
Returning home, she joined TVNZ and spent fourteen years anchoring 1 News at 6pm, reporting on significant moments including Gallipoli commemorations, the Royal Wedding in London, and the Christchurch earthquakes.
After leaving her anchor role during the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, Wendy embraced a varied career. She now presents part-time at TVNZ and works in media training, content creation, and podcasting, sharing stories of resilience and high performance.
A keen runner and mum of three, Wendy is also a trustee for John Walker’s Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation, supporting youth in South Auckland, and continues creating impactful content through her business, The Workroom.
Talking Points
MC
MC BlurbMC
With poise, warmth, and a journalist’s knack for reading the room, Wendy Petrie is a sought-after MC who brings professionalism and personality to every event. From corporate conferences to high-profile galas, she keeps proceedings seamless while engaging audiences with her sharp insights and genuine connection.
Keynote
From reporting on 9/11 in New York to anchoring New Zealand’s biggest news events, Wendy Petrie has seen the highs and lows of life in the media spotlight. In this candid keynote, she shares the lessons learned from her career — navigating change, bouncing back from setbacks, and balancing life as a journalist, mother, and marathon runner. It’s a story of resilience, reinvention, and finding new purpose beyond the newsroom.
Keynote
Wendy was wonderful to work with. She was happy to meet with me prior to the event to ensure she understood the event. She arrived promptly and her speech was exactly what we had asked of ... keep reading The University of Auckland
Wendy did an amazing job and fitted our event perfectly. She was very professional, funny, down to earth and approachable. I received lots of positive feed back from my client and colleagues.
Wendy was a fabulous keynote, extremely relatable. The attendees enjoyed the fact that she stayed afterward to chat and engage with them.
Wendy is a superstar with everything in relation to our event! We have had her back for multiple Westpac NZ Franchise Awards now as our MC and they way she remembers things year after year, engages with our audience and even mingles with them for some time before and afterwards is a breath of fresh air. I would absolutely recommend Wendy to anyone who needed a fun but professional MC who knows exactly how to keep the evening on track and speed up or slow down depending on your timings.
Wendy was easy to work with. Professional, humorous and engaged well with the audience.
You were a fantastic part of our congress, so glamorous, curious, so knowledgeable, so able to connect with our audience. We really appreciate how your role as MC lifted the whole congress delivery.
We really enjoyed having Wendy as a part of our conference, she took the time to speak to Delegates who wanted to say hi, and she was very easy to work with.
Wendy was a fantastic choice of MC for our female founder TechWeek panel. She was warm and welcoming and added just the right amount of humour and personal experience throughout her moderating. We'd put Wendy right at the top of our list for future MCs for our events.
