Parliament turns up heat on New Zealand Post

The heat has been turned up on New Zealand Post after Parliament’s influential finance and expenditure committee refused to sign off its financial review and announced an inquiry sparked by it blocking the release of documents.

The finance and expenditure committee yesterday sought a six- week extension of its inquiry into New Zealand Post’s financial state of affairs after a series of revelations about its subsidiary Transend, whose three- year $54 million contract to restructure the South African postal service was terminated a year early.

It also announced an inquiry into issues raised by the financial review of New Zealand Post and Parliament’s ability to scrutinise State Owned Enterprises, after mounting frustration over the difficulty getting answers for some of the questions raised about Transend.

In Parliament yesterday, ACT NZ MP Rodney Hide said NZ Post had to pay $14.2 million in penalties to the South African postal service, but Acting State Owned Enterprises Minister Michael Cullen could not confirm the figure.

NZ Post has been hauled back to the finance and expenditure committee on numerous occasions over Transend’s activities in both Europe and South Africa.

It landed in hot water with the committee earlier after denying it had a report, known as the Kroll report, which it later admitted having a draft copy of.

Chief executive Elmar Toime faces a charge in front of Parliament’s privileges committee that he misled the committee over NZ Post having the report, which was highly critical of Transend’s operations in South Africa.

Mr Toime and board chairman Ross Armstrong are also in the gun after denying knowledge to the committee of a separate report, prepared by Wellington solicitor Cameron Mander, which dealt with allegations about Transend staff.

But NZ Post is refusing to release the Mander report, which the finance and expenditure committee is expected to seek a copy of before being satisfied its questions over the SOE’s financial review have been answered.

The privileges committee is scheduled to meet today to consider the complaint against NZ Post over its misleading Parliament.