ACC recruitment delays unacceptable but understandable

That the appointment of a permanent ACC chief executive won’t be made for “several months” suggests the Government is having difficulty in finding a suitable replacement, Labour’s ACC spokesperson Andrew Little says.

ACC today announced the appointment of an acting CEO, David May, noting a permanent replacement to Ralph Stewart – who resigned on June 13 - is still several months away.

“The Government has known for almost six months that Ralph Stewart was going, so I don’t buy the line that it needs more time to find a replacement.

“The failure of Judith Collins to back Mr Stewart when he was not even a year into the job almost certainly has something to do with it.

“Add to that the fact that chair Paula Rebstock has so many other hats she can hardly be relied on to give the support a chief executive is entitled to rely on from a board chair, and it’s not difficult to see why the recruitment process is taking so long.

“ACC has been through the mill this year.  It needs a steady hand on the tiller to implement the recommendations of the Malcolm privacy report from August this year as well as to give confidence to claimants that the Corporation is in good hands to address the many other concerns people have.

“It is too important to be treated in such a cavalier fashion and the appointment of a permanent chief must be top priority for the Government.