Reserve Bank board chairman Neil Quigley has resigned “with immediate effect” in the wake of the shambolic handling of Adrian Orr’s resignation as Governor.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis made the announcement just before 6pm on Friday - the day after the Reserve Bank revealed Orr temporarily stepped down as Governor a week before the public was told he resigned
The Finance Minister says she did not ask the Reserve Bank Chair to quit, following news he's resigned with immediate effect.
Nicola Willis told Heather du Plessis-Allan that having completed key work streams with the bank, Quigley said the timing was appropriate.
Willis says she raised criticism around the board's handling of information relating to the former Governor's exit.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In news just out, the chair of the Reserve Bank
has quit after months of pressure over the handling of
the ex governor Adrianaw's resignation. The government this evening announced
Neil Quigley has resigned with the mediate effect. The Finance Minister,
Nicola Willis is with us now, Hi, Nikola.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good evening, Heather.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Why did he quit?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well? He tended his resignation to me today and he
noted that having completed a number of keywork streams for
the Bank, including the search for a new governor, that
he felt it was an appropriate time to hand over
to a new chair.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Did you ask him to quit?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, but I had discussed with him ongoing criticism of
the Bank Board's handling of information relating to the exit
of the former governor. I had expressed to him my
concern that the Bank's reputation was being impacted, and he
had agreed with me that that was a serious matter.
And when had you expressed this to him, most recently
(00:55):
this afternoon?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
What time.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I would have to to check to give you an
accurate accurate time? Would it be what the four three
o'clock or after three around that time?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
And what time did he quit?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I received his resignation at four fifty five today.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to
figure out it's your conversation that sparked him to resign.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Right. Look, I've had a couple of conversations with him today,
but of course I've previously had conversations with him about
this matter. I've stated publicly that I have not been
satisfied with the way that the Reserve Bank had handled
Official Information Act requests relating to the exit of the
former governor.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Did you give him an ultimatum?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I wouldn't put it that way. I had expressed to
him clearly my views, and he had also expressed to
me that, with the government's decision to establish a new
medical school at the University of Waikato, that he did
want to be able to focus his efforts on work
for the university. And we've also together been in the
(02:04):
process of appointing a new governor, a process that we
both think is very important and that we didn't want
to see jepardized in any way. That process is well progressed,
and I have full confidence that that process will be
completed in the next few weeks.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
If he hadn't resigned today, would you have withdrawn your confidence?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
If mister Quigley had not offered his resignation, I would
have asked him for it.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Wow. Why Well?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
As I've previously expressed, the Bank's handling of information requests
relating to the exit of the former governor did not
meet my expectations of transparency and of public accountability. I
had the opportunity late last night to review the Ombudsman's
ruling on this matter, the information that was subsequently released
(02:55):
by the Bank, and the Bank's press release relating to
those matters, and it did not meet my expectations for
how that matter should have been handled.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Did you not know? Did you know or did you
not know that Adrian Or had been sent a letter,
had stepped down from his role and Christian Hawksby had
taken over, and that he had left the office for
five days.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Did you know that I had been informed that letter
of concern had been shared with Adrian Orr and that
employment discussions were occurring. I have never seen that letter heither,
and it was my view that at the point the
Board had commenced those sorts of employment discussions with Adrian Orr,
(03:41):
it was really important to preserve the independence and the
reputation of the bank by not involving myself as a
minister in the board's deliberations on that employment matter. So
I intentionally distanced myself from that process, putting my faith
and trust in the Board to communicate effectively what had
(04:01):
happened when that time came, and as I've expressed, I'm
not happy with the way that that was ultimately done with.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions now
so I can just get to the heart of something, right, So,
did you know that he'd stepped down and that Christian
had taken over, and that he was out of the
office for five days before he quit? Yes, okay, then
did if you knew that, then you must have known
when Neil stood up on the day that he quit
and said it was a personal decision, you must have
known Neil was wrong.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Well, ultimately, the decision for the Reserve Bank Governor to
resign was his decision, and that was his personal decision.
So shady.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
That's so shady, though, isn't it? Because the truth is
he resigned because he got a letter and he was
basically in an employment situation.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Well, what I've been really conscious of is that where
there are legal issues relating to employment matters and where
there are exit agreements place between an employer and an
exiting employee, as was the case in this matter, that
anything that is said, any speculation in inference, needs to
(05:11):
be handled very carefully. And I thought, given I had
not seen that letter, given I did not know and
still have not seen that letter, had not seen the
contents of it, for me to speculate about what had
happened in any ensuing conversations that had occurred between the
Reserve Bank Governor and the board, that it would be
potentially jeopardizing the taxpayer for me to put myself in
(05:34):
the middle of it.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
But were you bound by the NBA.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
No, I was not.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So you're on our side. Wee've elected you right as
a country, even if we didn't vote for you. Guys,
you're on our side, and so you should be standing
there going, hey, Neil's not telling you the truth. This
isn't the truth. You should have been here.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I am on your side, and that is why I
have on several occasions reiterated my view that the bank
should seek to be as accountable, as transparent open as
possible about this matter. It was why which was why
when the Ombodsman made their ruling, because the view that
(06:11):
the bank had maintained throughout when my office, when the
Treasury had engaged with them to suggest that the way
they were responding to Official Information Act requests was inadequate,
the bank engaged their own legal advice and stress to
us that what they were doing was what was required
of them due to the employment arrangements in place now. Ultimately,
(06:34):
ultimately the Ombodsman has viewed that the public interest in
the matter was such that they should have waived that concern.
And it's my view that the way this matter has
been handled has not been of the standard I would expect,
has become a distraction and has ultimately had a negative
reputational effect for the bank.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I just don't know what I think. I asked you,
I have asked you on a number of occasions what
happened there, and I think you should have been upfront
about it as well. And I think I think cutting
meal quickly at this stage saves you. Bacon Billow only
just day, But can you now be clear with us
just on one thing. Adrian Or did not quit for
personal reasons. He quit because of the tenor of the
dialogue in those meetings, which led to him stepping down,
Christian taking over him leading the office, leaving the officers
(07:17):
for five days, and receiving a letter about his behavior
that is why.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
He quit well. The timeline of events at the Reserve Bank,
released this week at the request of the Opson, makes
clear that employment conversations between the Reserve Bank Board and
Adrian Orr were precipitated in part by a letter from
the Board to Adrian Orr raising a number of concerns.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
All right, listen, but I have.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Not seen that letter. Yep. I do not know the
full contents of that letter. I do not also know
what response Adrian Orr, either personally or via his lawyers,
gave to it. And I'm very conscious not to defame
anyone and to be careful about how I characterize that
letter when I have not seen it.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Okay, thank you, Nicola, and thank you for being so
frank with us this evening. Nichola Willis Finance Ministers for
more from hither duplessy Allen drive listen live to news talks.
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
In news just out, the chair of the Reserve Bank
has quit after months of pressure over the handling of
the ex governor Adrianaw's resignation. The government this evening announced
Neil Quigley has resigned with the mediate effect. The Finance Minister,
Nicola Willis is with us now, Hi, Nikola.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good evening, Heather.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Why did he quit?
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Well? He tended his resignation to me today and he
noted that having completed a number of keywork streams for
the Bank, including the search for a new governor, that
he felt it was an appropriate time to hand over
to a new chair.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Did you ask him to quit?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
No, but I had discussed with him ongoing criticism of
the Bank Board's handling of information relating to the exit
of the former governor. I had expressed to him my
concern that the Bank's reputation was being impacted, and he
had agreed with me that that was a serious matter.
And when had you expressed this to him, most recently
(00:55):
this afternoon?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
What time.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
I would have to to check to give you an
accurate accurate time? Would it be what the four three
o'clock or after three around that time?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
And what time did he quit?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
I received his resignation at four fifty five today.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to
figure out it's your conversation that sparked him to resign.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Right. Look, I've had a couple of conversations with him today,
but of course I've previously had conversations with him about
this matter. I've stated publicly that I have not been
satisfied with the way that the Reserve Bank had handled
Official Information Act requests relating to the exit of the
former governor.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Did you give him an ultimatum?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I wouldn't put it that way. I had expressed to
him clearly my views, and he had also expressed to
me that, with the government's decision to establish a new
medical school at the University of Waikato, that he did
want to be able to focus his efforts on work
for the university. And we've also together been in the
(02:04):
process of appointing a new governor, a process that we
both think is very important and that we didn't want
to see jepardized in any way. That process is well progressed,
and I have full confidence that that process will be
completed in the next few weeks.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
If he hadn't resigned today, would you have withdrawn your confidence?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
If mister Quigley had not offered his resignation, I would
have asked him for it.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Wow. Why Well?
Speaker 2 (02:34):
As I've previously expressed, the Bank's handling of information requests
relating to the exit of the former governor did not
meet my expectations of transparency and of public accountability. I
had the opportunity late last night to review the Ombudsman's
ruling on this matter, the information that was subsequently released
(02:55):
by the Bank, and the Bank's press release relating to
those matters, and it did not meet my expectations for
how that matter should have been handled.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Did you not know? Did you know or did you
not know that Adrian Or had been sent a letter,
had stepped down from his role and Christian Hawksby had
taken over, and that he had left the office for
five days.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Did you know that I had been informed that letter
of concern had been shared with Adrian Orr and that
employment discussions were occurring. I have never seen that letter heither,
and it was my view that at the point the
Board had commenced those sorts of employment discussions with Adrian Orr,
(03:41):
it was really important to preserve the independence and the
reputation of the bank by not involving myself as a
minister in the board's deliberations on that employment matter. So
I intentionally distanced myself from that process, putting my faith
and trust in the Board to communicate effectively what had
(04:01):
happened when that time came, and as I've expressed, I'm
not happy with the way that that was ultimately done with.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions now
so I can just get to the heart of something, right, So,
did you know that he'd stepped down and that Christian
had taken over, and that he was out of the
office for five days before he quit? Yes, okay, then
did if you knew that, then you must have known
when Neil stood up on the day that he quit
and said it was a personal decision, you must have
known Neil was wrong.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Well, ultimately, the decision for the Reserve Bank Governor to
resign was his decision, and that was his personal decision.
So shady.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
That's so shady, though, isn't it? Because the truth is
he resigned because he got a letter and he was
basically in an employment situation.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Well, what I've been really conscious of is that where
there are legal issues relating to employment matters and where
there are exit agreements place between an employer and an
exiting employee, as was the case in this matter, that
anything that is said, any speculation in inference, needs to
(05:11):
be handled very carefully. And I thought, given I had
not seen that letter, given I did not know and
still have not seen that letter, had not seen the
contents of it, for me to speculate about what had
happened in any ensuing conversations that had occurred between the
Reserve Bank Governor and the board, that it would be
potentially jeopardizing the taxpayer for me to put myself in
(05:34):
the middle of it.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
But were you bound by the NBA.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
No, I was not.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So you're on our side. Wee've elected you right as
a country, even if we didn't vote for you. Guys,
you're on our side, and so you should be standing
there going, hey, Neil's not telling you the truth. This
isn't the truth. You should have been here.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I am on your side, and that is why I
have on several occasions reiterated my view that the bank
should seek to be as accountable, as transparent open as
possible about this matter. It was why which was why
when the Ombodsman made their ruling, because the view that
(06:11):
the bank had maintained throughout when my office, when the
Treasury had engaged with them to suggest that the way
they were responding to Official Information Act requests was inadequate,
the bank engaged their own legal advice and stress to
us that what they were doing was what was required
of them due to the employment arrangements in place now. Ultimately,
(06:34):
ultimately the Ombodsman has viewed that the public interest in
the matter was such that they should have waived that concern.
And it's my view that the way this matter has
been handled has not been of the standard I would expect,
has become a distraction and has ultimately had a negative
reputational effect for the bank.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
I just don't know what I think. I asked you,
I have asked you on a number of occasions what
happened there, and I think you should have been upfront
about it as well. And I think I think cutting
meal quickly at this stage saves you. Bacon Billow only
just day, But can you now be clear with us
just on one thing. Adrian Or did not quit for
personal reasons. He quit because of the tenor of the
dialogue in those meetings, which led to him stepping down,
Christian taking over him leading the office, leaving the officers
(07:17):
for five days, and receiving a letter about his behavior
that is why.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
He quit well. The timeline of events at the Reserve Bank,
released this week at the request of the Opson, makes
clear that employment conversations between the Reserve Bank Board and
Adrian Orr were precipitated in part by a letter from
the Board to Adrian Orr raising a number of concerns.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
All right, listen, but I have.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Not seen that letter. Yep. I do not know the
full contents of that letter. I do not also know
what response Adrian Orr, either personally or via his lawyers,
gave to it. And I'm very conscious not to defame
anyone and to be careful about how I characterize that
letter when I have not seen it.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Okay, thank you, Nicola, and thank you for being so
frank with us this evening. Nichola Willis Finance Ministers for
more from hither duplessy Allen drive listen live to news talks.
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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