Hon Jim Anderton

Member of Parliament for Wigram

28 October 2010 Media Statement

NZ Post appointment of Cameron

There would have been no Kiwibank if the advice of investment banker Rob Cameron was followed - and that raises questions about his suitability for doing a review of the owner or Kiwibank, NZ Post, says Wigram MP and Kiwibank champion Jim Anderton.

“Rob Cameron was appointed to review the Kiwibank business case. He reported to Treasury that he opposed the creation of Kiwibank because it wouldn’t succeed, and wouldn’t get many customers. Today it has 800,000.

“Kiwibank achieved targets in eighteen months that Mr Cameron predicted would take eleven years to achieve. He could hardly have been more wrong.

“Mr Cameron also predicted that Kiwibank would not be able to withstand the competitive response of the Australian banks. He was spectacularly wrong about that, too - and overlooked the benefits to New Zealand that occurred because the Australian banks were forced to reduce fees, improve services and stop closing branches.

“After being spectacularly wrong about the success of Kiwibank, the appointment of Mr Cameron to review NZ Post looks like another round in the Government’s ongoing push to sell some or all of NZ Post and Kiwibank.

“Why else would they appoint an individual who has prominently advocated for the privatisation of SOEs to help boost the share market.”

ENDS