Anger at purge of ACC unionists

ACC STOUSH: A purge of union representatives from the board of state-owned accident insurer ACC has caused a major rift has opened between unionists and Minister Nick Smith.

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A major rift has opened between unionists and ACC Minister Nick Smith after National purged union representatives from the board of the state-owned accident insurer.

Council of Trade Unions president Helen Kelly accused Dr Smith yesterday of misleading her and failing to consult after he removed former union president Ross Wilson and union nominee Wayne Butson from the revamped board.

She said Dr Smith had promised to consult, although he now claimed he had only said he would consider consulting and had not. "My approach is always to trust them till you can't. Frankly, I would find it difficult now to take Nick Smith at his word," she said. "My view is that he misled me."

But Dr Smith rejected that. Ms Kelly had made strong representations and he was open to Mr Wilson or Mr Butson continuing. "She expressed a view to me, I heard that view to me, that's consultation."

It had come down to a choice between Mr Wilson and board deputy chairman Peter Neilsen, who both provided continuity and institutional memory.

"Somewhat surprisingly", new chairman John Judge had opted for Mr Neilsen. "That wasn't necessarily my expectation."

Dr Smith said he did not accept unions "automatically get a person on the ACC board any more than does Business NZ or the AA".

Ms Kelly said traditionally there had been a workers' representative. The new appointments were all from business.

"It's like putting the fox in the hen house ... this is a social insurance scheme. Workers pay levies. Why should they have no voice?"

Dr Smith said the changes would help ACC "address the significant and serious deterioration in its financial position".

He had sought people with actuarial expertise and experience in governance, cost control and investment management.

The new faces are Mr Judge, investment director and former BNZ deputy chairman Rob Campbell, actuarial consultant Murray Hilder, corporate governance consultant Jane Huria and company director John McCliskie.

Labour ACC spokesman David Parker said Dr Smith had already manufactured a crisis at ACC to soften up the public for privatisation of a major part of the insurer.

- © Fairfax NZ News