The Waikato medical school decision exemplified conduct and processes that failed to bear proper scrutiny. Then, sure enough and as predicted, the public release of the so-called business case was manipulated.
The document was released on a Friday evening, after parliamentary journalists had packed up for the weekend and at a time known for minimal media engagement. By last Monday, attention had faded.
Just as the weekend begins is the traditional time slot when the government releases bad news to minimise its impact.
Sadly, when officials or others resign or retire for "personal reasons", suspicions are immediately raised. Too often, such statements mask deeper issues. This pattern of obfuscation unfairly taints cases where personal circumstances are genuinely behind a resignation.
More has emerged over the past several weeks about New Zealand Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr’s abrupt resignation in early March, shortly before he was scheduled to address international bankers in Wellington.
When he stood down, bank chairman Neil Quigley called the departure a "personal decision". Unsurprisingly, few believed him, and speculation filled the information vacuum. The leadership team was also told to say he was leaving "on his own terms".
Later reports indicated that Orr’s departure was triggered by disagreements over bank budgets with the board and Finance Minister Nicola Willis. More recently, concerns were raised about Orr’s conduct during those disputes, and Willis expressed displeasure to Quigley about the way the resignation was handled.
The misleading messaging damaged public trust in the Reserve Bank unnecessarily.
As it happens, Quigley also serves as vice-chancellor of Waikato University, where he has championed the medical school proposal for years.
TVNZ was caught out badly in another high-profile phoney excuse incident. When Breakfast presenter Kamahl Santamaria first resigned, TVNZ said he was dealing with a "family emergency".
A day later, the broadcaster’s statement said that he was dealing with a "personal matter".
It soon emerged that he quit following complaints about inappropriate workplace behaviour. Challenged on the statement, TVNZ said Santamaria, four days after he was placed on leave, requested his absence be termed a "family emergency". TVNZ agreed to this.
Sport has its share of misleading statements, such as when a player supposedly sits out with an "injury", only for it to be revealed later that disciplinary action was the cause.
★★★
No sooner had Civis started writing about point-of-sale card surcharges than change began.
First, a partly prepared column for July 19 had to be altered because the Commerce Commission announced a second bite to reduce what had been grossly excessive bank interchange fees. All up, those fees will be slashed, and any fair surcharge should have been small.
Then came the government’s announcement this week that, by year’s end, point-of-sale surcharges will be eliminated. Transaction fees will simply become part of merchants’ operating costs.
In many respects, this is welcome news. There is no surcharge, and everyone pays the same.
It curbs what had most annoyed Civis, some merchants tacking on inflated surcharges. Consumer NZ supports the change, describing the old system as "a mess".
However, eftpos cards and cash don’t attract those interchange fees. In effect, those users will subsidise other payment options.
Retailers quickly explained that incentives encouraging customers to use eftpos would disappear. As Paywave is faster and more convenient, its use will grow, offsetting some of the savings from reduced fees.
We may also see a rise in the number of small retailers opting out of Paywave entirely, which, of course, remains their prerogative.
So far so good, all things considered. The advantages of the no-surcharge policy narrowly outweigh the drawbacks.
Next on the agenda must be tackling the excessive surcharges levied by online merchants and ticket agencies. Some of these are shockers.
