The NZ Power List

Jeremy Greenbrook has blogged the “power list” of the 50 most powerful NZers from the Listener. I’ll comment on some of the placings but first make it clear I regard power lists as devices to sell newspapers and magazines, and they never bear much relation to reality. The fact I once made an IT/Comms power list is proof positive of this!!!

4 Sam Morgan. Sorry but while Sam is a great guy from all accounts and made some very nice money from Trade Me, he is not the fourth most powerful person in NZ.

23 Heather Simpson – well any list which doesn’t have her in the top ten or top five is not defining power as I do.

15 Pita Sharples. I can’t see how a leader of a party with 4 votes is up there, over Winston Peters who si Foreign Minister, has seven votes and has been able to get a number of policy concessions out of the Govt.

Also I don’t think a single civil servant makes the list except Alan Bollard. The heads of DPMC, SSC, Treasury and MFAT all have considerable power.