In this morning's National Business Review (NBR) Graeme Hunt alleges the Commerce Commission was pressured by Minister of Agriculture John Falloon to authorise the consortium bid to buy and keep closed the Weddel meat processing plants.
NBR says this may have been done in a letter to the Commission or by the Minister talking with Commission members. It describes the Minister as being "heavily involved" in the decision making process, says the decision was delayed and that it was eventually released at the Beehive. It concludes with an allegation that the Commission was involved in "deal-making at others' expense".
Commission Chairman Alan Bollard said today that all these statements are completely wrong.
Prior to writing his article Mr Hunt was given a clear statement that there was no interference or communication from Mr Falloon. Mr Hunt failed to check a number of other allegations made in his article with the Commission. NBR is doing its readers a great disservice though such poor journalism.
In his previous article Mr Hunt showed he was confused and incorrect in his reading of the Commission's decision.
NBR was invited to the conference on the consortium's application. It chose not to attend. Had one of its journalists been there they would have heard a reference to a public letter sent by the then Minister of Commerce to the Commission in 1989. Section 26 of the Commerce Act permits only the Minister of Commerce to set out the Government's policy views to the Commission. Such letters are not binding on the Commission.
There was no other letter. The Minister of Agriculture did not talk to Commission members. No minister was involved in the decision in any way, let alone "heavily".
"We guard our independence jealously and this independence is important for the regulation of competition in this country," Dr Bollard said.
The decision was not delayed, it was released as soon as it was completed.
The decision was not released publicly at the Beehive. It was released, as usual, in the Commission's Wellington office.
The only organisation to be advised before the media was the applicant. It is standard practice that the Commission advises applicants of a decision 30 minutes to an hour before it makes a public statement. No minister was told of the decision before it was publicly announced and the media advised.
There was no improper involvement from Mr Falloon, no secret communications, no conspiracies and no deal. NBR presents no evidence on which to base its outrageous conclusions. The Commission expects NBR to apologise for its unfounded comments.
