Government should front up and say if Shane Jones' Air NZ crusade is all talk

Wednesday, 21 March 2018

Shane Jones may have no official power over Air New Zealand, but his stance on the airline could be highly influential.

OPINION: Anyone who knows anything about Shane Jones knows he is a man of strong opinions.

Arguably the most articulate politician of his generation, his latest foray into controversy should be, on one level, seen as just talk.

In calling for the chairman of Air New Zealand to stand down, he has no more power than a private citizen to influence whether this happens.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson is the shareholding minister for Air New Zealand, and he has said the airline has operational independence.

* Air NZ as chairman hits back**

For Jones on the other hand, it is unclear whether he is speaking as the Minister of Regional Economic Development or the Associate Minister of Transport. It makes no difference. He is simply expressing an opinion.

Aside from the tone, it is no different to Ōtaki MP Nathan Guy's petition against Air New Zealand's decision to axe flights from Kāpiti Coast Airport to Auckland.

(On that point, for all the good it will do, Guy might as well launch a second petition, calling for the airport's owners, the Todd family, to cease being property developers.)

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher has taken a New Zealand brand and turned it into an Aussie icon

But on another level, Jones' words are so strong it seems as if they come close to controlling the weather around the airline.

Not only has he accused the airline of running a business model which deliberately downgrades the regions, he has told its chief executive to shut up or resign, rather than defend his strategy. The rest of the board has been put on notice that it is not serving New Zealanders.

Jones is a senior cabinet minister, while his party leader, Winston Peters, has had similar grumblings about Air New Zealand neglecting the regions.

The rebuke is so public that it is likely to have an impact, if in no other way that it will embolden critics of the national carrier.

Jones is far from alone in feeling that Air New Zealand should be doing more to improve connections to regional New Zealand.

The airline is flying more and more people, but on fewer domestic routes.

For the vast majority of its customers, who hail from the major centres, a healthy, innovative and profitable Air New Zealand is a great thing, offering flights to new exotic locations.

But in smaller centres, flight connections to the rest of the country - or the lack thereof - make a major difference.

It has a direct impact on how many tourists will visit. Families suffer from the distance which scheduled flights overcome.

Business figures from around the country have said it is one of the key things which makes it difficult to attract staff to move to a region, or even to convince someone to establish a business there.

Forget the cheaper housing and better lifestyle enjoyed in smaller centres, if it takes all day just to get to Auckland Airport, that is a major hurdle.

Jones knows this, and so does Robertson. So does Christopher Luxon and Tony Carter, Air New Zealand's chief executive and chairman and the rest of the board.

Jones has said he will not be thwarted on the issue. It would be wrong to say he is spoiling for a fight because we are well beyond that point.

Robertson has said the Government has the 'means and mechanisms' to influence the company through board composition.

If it was to decide to be more of an activist shareholder, it would then raise the question of what other parts of the economy it might decide to use its influence over.

Through a majority holding of three of the four largest electricity companies in New Zealand, that sector would be the next natural target.

The Government owes it to the wider economy to at least let it be known whether Jones will be allowed to have that kind of influence over its major assets, so players in other sectors can prepare.

Or if indeed, it is all just talk.