Estimates Debate — Vote ACC

The estimate of the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) took place during the time that the position of corporation chair stood vacant for 11 months. This was very interesting. We learnt recently that Mr Hausmann’s appointment to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board was fast tracked by the former Minister of Health, the Hon Annette King. Yet the ACC chair position was held open for 11 months for another Labour favourite, Ross Wilson, to finish his term as the president of the Council of Trade Unions. It just shows that the Labour Government can be extremely flexible when it comes to appointing its people to the various posts.

I want to test the water with some of the senior members on this side of the Chamber. When the Hon Ruth Dyson explained to the media why it took her so long to appoint Ross Wilson, she is quoted as saying that there was no one else on the board that she was happy to have as chair in the long term. Now, I have to consult with a senior diligent member on this side, Dr the Hon Lockwood Smith. I ask Dr Smith, whether, when he was the Minister and appointed members of the board, he ever said that he could not see anybody on the whole board competent enough to be appointed to the chair, and held the position open for 11 months. That is a public vote of no confidence in the whole of the ACC board. I find it staggering that Labour actually went out and said that it had no confidence in the whole board of ACC. If Labour had no confidence in the board members, it should have sacked them.

That might explain why the Hon Ruth Dyson took on the job of apologist for ACC for 11 long months. Not that long ago Ruth Dyson stood in the House and claimed that she was 100 percent behind the $5 million spent by ACC on branding and spin advertising that told New Zealanders that they were covered. The advertisements attracted only complaints, and the Advertising Standards Authority duly ruled that they were misleading. In fact, not everyone was covered. There was fine print. The Minister was blissfully unaware, even during the consultation phase of that advertising campaign that said some of the staff in ACC that was not smart and it would promise overmuch. That branding exercise actually drew more problems for ACC, because a lot of the long-term claimants then came forward and disclosed to the public. It is really quite frightening to hear the tactics with which the corporation, in conjunction with private investigators, tried to prove whether a claim was valid.

Well, once again the Minister showed that she knew nothing of what was happening in the corporation, because a contract between ACC and private investigators clearly established a key performance indicator where the private investigators have to prove they are successful by making sure that 80 percent of the referral cases should result in prosecution, termination of claims, suspension of entitlement, civil action, positive change to claimant capacity status, complaint to the appropriate medical board, etc. But when we queried the Minister during the estimates she told us that that was not the case. A significant number of referrals required no further action because the legitimacy of the claimants’ cases were validated. Well, obviously she has no idea of what is happening in ACC.

Vote agreed to.

Vote Child, Youth and Family Services