The chair of the board at the Reserve Bank has been criticised for working with the National Party on a new policy in his capacity as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waikato, Marc Daalder reports
The Taxpayer's Union says Neil Quigley, the vice-chancellor of Waikato University and the long-time chair of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, shouldn't hold both roles.
RNZ reported on Tuesday that Quigley had worked with the National Party on the development of a policy for a new medical school at Waikato. But as a public sector board member, there are certain expectations around political neutrality, the union's executive director Jordan Williams said.
"This is a textbook conflict of interest between the two roles held by Prof Quigley. On the one hand, Quigley was merely doing his job furthering the interests of the university. But his role on the RBNZ board made his involvement in politics totally inappropriate," he said.
"The political neutrality of the Reserve Bank is so fundamental to New Zealand’s public institutions and economy that even the risk of perception of politicisation by its members must be avoided. Upon realising the conflicting duties of the two roles, Prof Quigley should have resigned from one of them."
Williams said the union had been previously outspoken about inappropriate political commentary by Reserve Bank board members. It also previously called for the resignation of then-Te Whatu Ora board chair Rob Campbell, when comments he made concerning the National Party came to light.
"Reasonable minds may differ on Prof Quigley's actions as vice-chancellor, but because the RBNZ's board is among the most important to ensure its members remain politically unsullied he should really know better."
National's public service spokesperson, Simeon Brown, disagreed with Williams. He told Newsroom the situation was different from Campbell and those of Ruth Dyson and Steve Maharey, who he had criticised for making political comments while serving as public sector board members.
"The examples you raised below all involved public servants engaging in public and partisan political commentary," he said.
"Neil Quigley, in his capacity as Vice Chancellor of the University of Waikato, has been a tireless advocate for the establishment of a new medical school in Hamilton. The situations are quite different."
The Public Service Commission's code of conduct for board members of Crown entities says that even in a "private capacity" members should "avoid any political activity that could jeopardise our ability to perform our role or which could erode the public’s trust in the entity. We discuss with the chair any proposal to make political comment or to undertake any significant political activity."
While the Reserve Bank is not a Crown entity, it has been directed in the past via the Finance Minister's letter of expectations to follow other guidelines applied to Crown entities.
"Although the Bank is not a Crown entity, I expect the Bank to have regard to the enduring expectations set out in that letter, adapted as appropriate to the Bank’s particular status," Finance Minister Grant Robertson wrote to Quigley in 2022, in relation to guidelines published by the Government for Crown entities in 2019.
In fact, there appear to be no rules or guidelines specifically covering political neutrality expectations or obligations for the board of the central bank. It doesn't fall at all under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission. There's no code of conduct for the board and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021 places relatively few explicit requirements on members regarding integrity and professional conduct.
"A member of the board must, when acting as a member, act with honesty and integrity," one section of the act states. Another says members "must, when acting as a member, act in good faith and not pursue the member’s own interests at the expense of the bank’s interests".
In a statement to Newsroom, Robertson said Quigley had undertaken his work with the National Party under his Waikato University role.
"Professor Quigley’s actions were undertaken in his role as vice chancellor of Waikato University and separate from his role as chair of the Reserve Bank. In the role of vice chancellor he, of course, has the freedoms associated with a university. Any questions about his conduct would be for the University Council to consider," he said.
"As you note the Reserve Bank is somewhat outside of the normal public sector framework. It is important that board members, including the chair, work in line with the letter of expectations to the Reserve Bank. I am confident Professor Quigley and the board are aware of that."
A spokesperson for the Treasury, which is the bank's monitoring agency, deferred to Robertson.
"We refer you to the response provided by the Minister of Finance. In particular we would emphasise the following passage from the response: 'It is important that board members, including the chair, work in line with the letter of expectations to the Reserve Bank. I am confident Professor Quigley and the board are aware of that.'"
Act Party leader David Seymour, who was vocal about the need for Campbell and other board members accused of breaching political neutrality to face consequences earlier this year, said he thought this situation was different.
In line with Robertson, he said it was clear Quigley's interactions with National were done to advance the interests of the university. He added that there was no clear conflict between advocating for a new medical school and the work of the Reserve Bank.
Newsroom has sought comment from Quigley.
