The Insider Career planning
Absolute power
Power company bosses in this country are looking aghast at what the Australian Government is proposing across the Tasman. It wants the equivalent of New Zealand’s Commerce Commission to have more powers to ensure that energy companies pass on cost savings to consumers and clamp down on market manipulation and other anti-competitive behaviour. The penalties are eye-watering as well — “up to the greatest of: $10m; three times the value of the total benefit attributable to the conduct or 10% of the annual turnover in the 12 months before the conduct occurred”. But there could be even more, with the courts able to order power companies to divest assets when they breach the rules. Naturally, the Australian power companies are furious. For them, the saving grace is that the law seems unlikely to pass, given the current chaotic state of Australian politics. The big power companies here have also dismissed it as irrelevant to the local market. Despite this, NZ politicians are being lobbied hard to consider very similar moves when they make decisions following the Electricity Price Review. Some MPs are very receptive to the idea of a much tougher regulator here as well.
Simeon says
National has something of a tradition of recruiting very young “old fogey” style conservatives. Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown is already making a name for himself as a 26-year-old with the mindset of a 70-year-old conservative. Lately, he has been railing against medicinal cannabis. So over the top were his statements that Act’s David Seymour declared: “I felt like Jerry Falwell, Mr Moral Majority, had reincarnated and entered this House. You know, as he leaned forward, I could smell the sanctimony on his breath, and a sense of unreality permeated Simeon Brown's speech.”
Message in a name?
Sometimes, people’s names seem to lead them down a career path ordained by fate. For instance, Warren Drinkwater was a general manager at the company Hometech, then earlier this year the company was swallowed up by another company called Just Water. It was obviously meant to be. A less fortunate name is that of the spokesman for the aviation unions — Savage. He likes the moniker Savage, and abstains from having a first and/ or last name. It might have seemed like a quirky thing to do, but the “optics”, as they say, are not great. Especially when Savage is the person explaining the reasons for potentially grounding Air New Zealand for three days in the run-up to Christmas.
Super study
Consultants are being hired to review the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation – the rather grand name for the super scheme’s board. The purpose of the statutory review is to assess how effectively and efficiently the Guardians are performing their legislated functions and assess the performance of the Guardians, and of the fund. One name that keeps cropping up is that of former Prime Minister Bill English, who held strong views about how the Guardians operated, in particular their attitude towards paying staff in line with the rest of the public sector. Apparently, though, he has a life now. With the local council elections next year, a lot of people are making up their minds on whether they will run for a position, or stand again. It is often a viable option for senior politicians who want a nice retirement path out of Parliament. There are a few in both Labour and National who are thinking about it as a possibility, now that their hoped-for pathways to the top of the parliamentary ranks are looking less likely.
Forever young
One of the little-discussed changes to the Reserve Bank Act going through Parliament is that it removes the disqualification which bars someone from becoming governor or deputy governor if they are aged 70-plus. Some people are idly speculating that NZ First Leader Winston Peters, 73, is keeping his career options open.
Undue influence?
And on the topic of the Reserve Bank, the Bloomberg news agency this week included it on a list of “monetary institutions getting unwanted attention from politicians”. As evidence, it cites the change which will require the RBNZ to also focus on employment, not just price stability, and fears that this could allow a Finance Minister to unduly influence the bank.