Self interest sours message
Fran O’Sullivan, at NZ Herald, reviews Mark Weldon’ recent comments to SOE directors.
Whilst not necessarily disagreeing with the message on the need for improved performance, she notes that Weldon’s self interest was showing.
As Ms O’Sullivan notes Weldon is close to John Key. Adam is of the view that Key might be well served by putting some distance between himself and Weldon.
O’Sullivan concludes:-
Weldon is right to single out how the dividing line between shareholding ministers and SOE directors has got blurred in the time since the SOE legislation was passed some 13 years ago.
He is right to highlight the “no surprises” policy which creates the ideal conditions for directors to second-guess the politicians rather than put the company first. Suggestions like publicly benchmarking SOEs’ performance are also looked on as on the right track by some high-profile directors canvassed yesterday.
The NZX’s standing would be greatly enhanced through a series of partial privatisations. But one thing Weldon must stop doing is over-egging the SOEs’ supposed lack of performance. It is tempting to think of how long his own credibility would last if he ran the ruler over NZX members in such a broad-brush fashion.
Absolutely.
In addition, Weldon does not appear to make the case for partial privatization that well.
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