Murray Horn is surprised his task to unite the strong wool
industry has been compared with making peace in the Middle
East.
His surprise stems from his view that the dysfunctional and
under-performing wool industry wants to change, an opinion
not universally held by commentators.
Dr Horn was last week appointed by Agriculture Minister David
Carter an independent convener to facilitate a meeting of
wool sector organisations, to begin the process of creating a
single body to speak on behalf of the strong wool sector.
While not underestimating the task ahead of him, Dr Horn said
he believed the industry recognised something had to be done.
"There is reasonable acknowledgement that something needs to
be done and recognition that an outside person with fresh
eyes and an open mind can offer something," he said in an
interview.
"It is not unlike the work I did last year with the health
sector.
"In many respects it's about listening to what people are
saying and getting a common view, then getting things working
and seeing the future evolve."
He had no view on where the industry should head and the
route it should take.
"If I had, it would cut across the benefit I bring to that
role."
The sector appeared fragmented and there was plenty of
dissatisfaction, he said, but there was a desire to return to
viability and Dr Horn believed that extended to support for a
single industry voice.
Dr Horn has a bachelor of commerce (agricultural) degree `and
a masters in commerce (agricultural) from Lincoln College,
now Lincoln University, and following that embarked on a
career in commerce.
He was a former Treasury secretary and chief executive of the
ANZ Banking Group's New Zealand operations.
He is a director of Telecom and chairman of the National
Health Board.
The Wool Taskforce report, Restoring Profitability to the
Strong Wool Sector, provided a blueprint for how the sector
could be restructured, but Dr Horn said that did not mean his
role was "doable".
That report, which called for a single industry voice,
rationalisation, greater market focus and promotion of wool's
natural qualities, did not have universal support among the
strong wool sector.
Dr Horn said he would begin his role by speaking individually
to between 30 and 40 wool sector leaders to provide him with
a better understanding of their interests, their view on the
problems and any solutions they could suggest.
From this he hoped to create a "coalition of the willing" to
create a united voice that can speak for the good of the
strong wool sector, a process that could take two to three
months.
But any structural changes would have to be driven by
commercial decisions, he said.
While acknowledging the size of challenge he faced, Dr Horn
promised to give it his "very best shot".
"If there is a way forward, I hope to find it. If there
isn't, then I will be obliged to say that."
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