Back in the 90's, we learned that Timberlands was using PR firms to subvert the interests of the New Zealand public in favour of its executives' interests in clearfelling large swathes of the West Coast's native forests (and incidentally, keeping its executives in their fancy offices and fat salaries). So far, so normal - business will lie and cheat and trick to protect its profits, and we shouldn't be surprised that it happens in New Zealand. But Timberlands wasn't just an ordinary business - it was a state-owned enterprise, wholly owned by the New Zealand government, and its campaign against the people who were effectively its own shareholders was conducted with public money.
When Timberlands' behaviour was exposed in Nicky Hager's book Secrets and Lies, the newly elected Labour government made it clear that these tactics were unacceptable within a public sector organisation. But now its happening again, with SOE Solid Energy paying quarter of a million dollars to fund a report aimed at undermining the government's climate change policy. So, once again, we have SOEs running rampant, spending public money to subvert the interests of their owners, the New Zealand public. But its not just an attack on democracy - it's also theft. That money would otherwise have been returned to the government as dividends and used to pay for public services such as roads, schools, and hospitals. Instead, it has been used to promote the self-interest of Solid Energy's executives in keeping their cosy jobs.
This should not be happening. Contrary to Solid Energy's claim, SOEs are not ordinary businesses. They are owned by us, and they should accept the policy set by us through Parliament and the government of the day. Any manager or board member unable to accept that should resign and seek employment somewhere else. Unfortunately, there's little hope of that standard being enforced under National; duty Minister Anne Tolley has dismissed it as "an operational matter for each SOE board". Which means we are likely to see even more of these attempts to undermine public ownership in the future.
