The funny money plot thickens. I've done a mini Watergate investigation but still can't get answers. Is there a cover-up? Governor Orr, who has left the RBNZ in a huff after causing rampant inflation & "engineering" stagnation, was hired in the first place on the strong recommendation of RBNZ Board Chair, Neil Quigley. Then he was re-hired in 2022 for another five year term, again on Quigley's recommendation. Finance Minister Willis said she was "appalled" by Orr's reappointment, "As Chair of the Monetary Policy Committee [Orr] signed off on an extraordinary program of money printing & cheap lending that pumped tens of billions of dollars into the economy .. That program directly contributed to house prices rising 28% in one year, inflation rising to a 32-year high & record bank profits. NZ'ers .. now suffer a cost of living crisis .. The Government .. shows contempt for the public. It’s not enough for the Finance Minister to lean on the endorsement of the board he helped appoint .. [Its] unacceptable."
Yes, Finance Minister Willis accused the RBNZ Board of blowing up NZ's economy and Labour's Finance Minister of "leaning" on the Board. The Board was in cahoots with Orr, who they hired & re-hired. So what does Finance Minister Willis do immediately upon gaining power? She leans on the RBNZ Board, reappointing Chair Quigley for several more years. Its incomprehensible. Quigley told Interest.co.nz that Orr’s sudden resignation was due to him feeling finished with the job, saying he wasn't surprised by it: “Being Governor .. is a difficult job & he feels he's achieved the things he wanted to achieve”. That statement contradicts what Quigley wrote not long ago. In a letter to then Finance Minister Robertson in 2022, which recommended Orr's reappointment for another five years, Quigley wrote how the Governor "wishes to have the opportunity to consolidate [his] achievements .. to ensure his changes [to strategy, people & culture] are bedded into the Bank". That letter made no reference of inflation hitting between 7% and 8 % the same year, 2022, the recommendation was made. It is the Governor's Key Performance Indicator.
Quite the contrary, Chair Quigley's letter wildly endorsed the $50 billion money printing program. It refers to the wonders of the Governor using "alternative monetary policy tools", a codeword for the program, otherwise known as "quantitative easing". Amusingly, Quigley congratulates Governor Orr on pioneering "a new approach to communication by the Bank, designed to make it relevant to the general population of NZ". Does that "new approach" to Comms include plummeting public respect for the Bank? Does it include the Governor walking off the job; shooting through with no explanation given? His vast Communications team have stayed silent. Astonishingly, Quigley says in the letter how the Governor is known for "treating with respect those people with different views ..". The industry insiders who I know say the opposite. I cannot even repeat their words, they are so strong. As for my own experience, the Bank wouldn't have me within a mile of its building. It hated my views. As far as it was concerned, I was Public Enemy Number 1, daring to challenge its vast PR, Comms and Marketing "narrative". So much for treating with respect those with different views. Mine have been proved correct. Quigley's been proved wrong. He's still sitting in the job.
Let's not even mention how Waikato University, of which Quigley is Vice Chancellor, hired former National Party Minister Steven Joyce's firm for lobbying & consultancy work. Auditor-General John Ryan discovered that Joyce Advisory had been paid $1.1 million in public funds. Ryan said Waikato didn't engage in a competitive procurement process & had reached out to Joyce directly. "Where there has been a direct procurement like this & one that to date has cost well over $1 million of public money, we would expect to see a clear & documented reason for the services that were needed," he said. "That explanation, and the assurance it would provide to the public that public money has been appropriately spent, is missing." Joyce bobbed up at Waikato last month, hosting sessions for its "Economics Forum" along with the event's convener, Matt Bolger, who's former National Party PM Jim Boger's son. Neither is an academic, yet both appear to be on the University's pay roll.
RBNZ Chair Quigley should resign. He should take responsibility for NZ's stagnation, years of high inflation, Reserve Bank engineered recessions, and blow-out in Bank staffing costs he presided over. NZ cannot endure being run by an old guard, in both the public & private sectors, who hang on no matter what - no matter how much they stuff up and don't deliver. They should give way to a new generation of talented young Kiwis who are leaving NZ because jobs, like sitting on the Reserve Bank Board, aren't open to them. Anyhow, good luck to you Mr. Quigley. You're coming up ten years as RBNZ Chair. Wanna do another ten? I remember last time I saw you, sitting in Bill English's Beehive Office when he was Finance Minister, when I visited one day with his Academic Advisory Group, long since abolished.