Refreshing as business chief gets political
The opening pages of successful companies’ annual reports do not usually burn with incendiary political criticism. An exception has come — once again — from Mainfreight, New Zealand’s largest freight company.
From its Otahuhu headquarters, the company has a reach to all parts of the globe. Chairman Bruce Plested, however, has turned his sights on an event close to home — the September election.
He could have easily used his statement to celebrate the company’s striking performance, which in the last financial year saw its profits rise 17 per cent to pass $100 million for the first time.
But Plested, who founded Mainfreight in 1978 with a Bedford truck and $7200 and retains a 16 per cent stake in the company, clearly felt the need to challenge New Zealand’s politicians.
By and large the 75 year old is unimpressed with the quality on offer, remarking that too many fail his test of what makes a good foreman and that elected representatives seem lost “in platitudes, jokes, jibes, foxy words and sheer procrastination”.
Plested singled out housing, education and the environment as three areas requiring urgent action. His choice of issues is unsurprising given they continue to rate as major concerns with the electorate.
On housing, Plested takes the view that some “intestinal fortitude” at the local and national level could sort out “this very fixable social disgrace”.
His education outlook links the skewed housing and rental markets to the creation of a “permanent socio-economic group of under-achievers”, with Maori and Pacific Island families making up most of the group.
He believes business could help these communities, and though the report did not mention it, Mainfreight has had a long and deep relationship with a primary school it sponsors in Otara. He recommends that business partner with schools in low decile areas and challenges politicians to make it happen.
The environment is the other issue Plested says is crying out for attention. He despairs at the state of water quality as an indictment of successive governments, saying regulators have stood by and left the cleanup to “our children and grandchildren”.
Mainfreight has runs on the board as a solid corporate citizen. It rewards staff through a bonus scheme, invests heavily in training, has made cuts to its carbon footprint and is committed to solar energy. Plested made a similar foray into public policy in the annual report last year, when he advocated a capital gains tax to take the heat out of the housing market and recommended performance pay for teachers.
He is not the only commercial figure who has waded into political topics. Stephen Jennings, the venture capitalist who made a fortune in Russian investments, last year identified both housing and education as serious issues confronting Kiwis.
There is no reason why business figures should stick to familiar fields of tax policy or financial regulation when they feel the need to comment on issues they care about. In an election year, it would enhance the democratic process to hear more from them.