Mallard on Agenda

Agenda was a good watch today. Jim Bolger was in great form as he told off the interview for trying to trick him, and proclaiming he is far too experience to fall into those traps. It brought back fond memories.

But the main guest was Trevor Mallard, and Trevor said some interesting things:

TREVOR Well I’m happy to have floats as long as it’s non core assets.  I mean we’re not gonna float for example the wind farms of Meridian.

My God, imagine if a National MP was saying this. It would be “Privatisation Alert, Privatisation Alert”.

I am glad to see Trevor say it is okay to float non core assets. Could someone ask him for a list.

GUYON What you’re telling me is that you want to sell the subsidiaries but you haven’t been able to.

TREVOR I’m happy for things which are not part of the core to be partially floated, at the moment there’s none of those that are big enough to be interesting, but what I’m not prepared to do is to have the state owned assets either sold and leased back the way John Key has been looking at or prepared for sale the way he indicated that he would use first three  years in government.

Trevor gets marks for always trying to score a point, and invent a policy for National. The important thing to note again is he says it is fine to sell non core assets.

GUYON Okay, can I look at the appointments to SOE boards.  You’ve recently, well not you personally, but Diane Yates has recently been appointed, the former Labour MP to the board of the SOE Learning Media, I mean isn’t this just another example of political cronyism and you’re not getting the best people on these boards you’re getting your old mates appointed to the boards of SOEs.

TREVOR Well I think if you have a really good look and analyse who I have appointed to SOE boards you’ve got one of the classic ones coming on your programme soon, we’ve gone for the talented people, the people who can do the jobs, and if you look very carefully at the chairs of the SOE boards…

This is very interesting. Trevor is ignoring the fact four of his colleagues have gives Yates a Board job, and is just stressing that he personally has not, and he appoints talent only.

This is a very clever way to get across the point he had nothing to do with her appointments and that he does not think she is talented. Otherwise he would have defended her appointments on the basis of the skills she would bring to those boards.