Diversity remains an issue for NZ Rugby

Two steps forward, one step back in the New Zealand Rugby board’s quest for diversity.

While 2016 and 2018 saw Farah Palmer and Sir Michael Jones elected to NZR’s board, this week’s 2019 annual general meeting saw three middle-aged white men either elected or reappointed.

They weren’t even close to adding more diversity to the board, with the two provincial candidates put forward both cut from the same cloth.

Outgoing North Harbour Rugby Union chairman Shaun Nixon, 51, ended up beating out Waikato Rugby Union chairman Colin Groves in the election race to replace former Manawatu Rugby Union chairman Steve Morris.

The other way to get on the board is via NZR’s appointments and remuneration committee. That’s how former All Black Mark Robinson and current chairman Brent Impey were reappointed to their third and fourth terms respectively (Impey’s first was a partial term after the death of Christopher Doig).

Both reappointments made sense in a way.

Normally a chairman will see out the maximum three full terms on the board, while Robinson is one of three New Zealanders on the World Rugby Council, alongside NZR chief executive Steve Tew and former Black Ferns and All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson.

So Impey turned the diversity torch onto the provincial unions, saying he was disappointed by the lack of diversity put forward, especially after Jones beat out former Labour MP Dame Annette King to the independent board member position in 2018.

‘‘We had some success last year in that we had both Sir Michael Jones and Dame Annette King standing. Our board was quite active in encouraging diversity in the unions to come forward.

‘‘This year, we assumed that message had got through, but it didn’t and we ended up with two provincial union chairs nominated.’’

In 2017, NZR made constitutional changes in the aftermath of a number of high-profile scandals, which took some of the board selection power out of the hands of the provincial unions.

Before 2017, six of the nine board members would be voted in via election, where unions could vote in blocs.

Since then, the process has been in transition – by 2020 three board members will be elected, three will be appointed after personally applying to the appointments and remuneration committee and three will be appointed after a provincial union or the New Zealand Maori Rugby Board nominates them to the appointments and remuneration committee.

Effectively, the unions are in the process of losing control of the selection of three board member positions.

In that context, putting up two provincial chairmen for election on Wednesday could be seen as some of the unions trying to ensure they maintain a strong voice on the board for as long as possible.

Impey said those 2017 constitutional changes were made to ensure more diversity made its way through to the board, but Wednesday’s events showed there was still work to do.

‘‘The message I was trying to give was we’ve got to get on with this. It’s gender, it’s ethnicity.

‘‘We changed the constitution two years back so that the appointments panel could essentially appoint six of the nine, but the PUs had to nominate three of those, but they just haven’t come through.’’

It means another year with just one woman on the nine-person board. Sport New Zealand ideally wants sports organisations to have boards of at least 40 per cent women.

Impey said Palmer and Jones’ presence on the board had been positive and brought new perspectives to discussions at board meetings.

‘‘Farah makes a significant impact. Michael does as well – [he] has particular issues around Pasifika he brings to meetings.

‘‘Farah was a major player in us getting the Women’s World Cup, she was one of the main presenters alongside Mark [Robinson]. You can just tell it moves it away from a white, men’s only culture, into a board that’s more representative.’’

Impey said the board must move to being representative of New Zealand society going forward.

‘‘Currently it’s not representing what New Zealand is.

‘‘The women’s game is growing. Out of 150,000 players, 30,000 are women. They play a leading role. Look at the growth of the Black Ferns and the Black Ferns Sevens.

‘‘All of business and society is around diversity and we’ve got to reflect that.’’

‘‘Currently it’s not representing what New Zealand is.’’ Chairman Brent Impey on NZ Rugby’s board