Ports of Auckland Limited has appointed John Lindsay as its new chairman, after the sacking of the former head of the board.
Mr Lindsay would replace Gary Judd QC, who was removed as chairman and as a director of Ports of Auckland by Auckland Regional Holdings (ARH), the commercial arm of owner Auckland Regional Council (ARC), on May 21.
The new chairman had been on Ports' board of directors since March 1996, and was also chairman of Holcim New Zealand, the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
He was also director of a number of other companies.
Port of Auckland runs New Zealand's largest container port. Attempts have been made to merge it with Port of Tauranga but they have failed.
The new appointment comes after the messy sacking of the former chairman.
On May 1, Mr Judd QC received a letter stating "the ARH board has found your approach unhelpful and you have not sufficiently understood the needs of ARH as a shareholder/investor". The board required his resignation by May 31.
Mr Judd said he replied on May 6 that he would not be resigning.
"I asked for an explanation of what ARH meant by the reasons given by ARH. No explanation has been received."
Mr Judd said he was on business in Christchurch on May 21 when POAL rang to say it had received a letter from ARH removing him as a director.
