Auditor-General’s convention centre criticism prescient, horse industry eyes China, Contact Energy dismays

In NBR Print this week:

Two years ago the Auditor-General’s report into the selection of SkyCity [NZX: SKC] to build a convention centre criticised the process as inadequate “for a project of this potential scale, complexity, and risk. Prime Minister John Key chose to interpret this as meaning his government had been “totally vindicated” and took the occasion to declare “New Zealand is getting a new convention centre at no cost at all with the risks taken by the operators.” Nick Grant writes that as has become clear in recent weeks, Mr Key was in no position to make such an undertaking and, although he has now been spared the embarrassment of having to break that promise, questions continue to accumulate about the way the controversial deal has been conducted.

One of China’s leading horse breeding companies has exported almost 700 first-class horses from New Zealand since 2012 and industry insiders say the potential pay-off is enormous for this country. The Rider Horse Group was established in 2006 by property tycoon and restaurant magnate Lang Ling in Inner Mongolia. One of Mr Ling’s racehorses is Mongolian Khan – favourite for the New Zealand Derby next weekend.

ACT leader and Epsom MP David Seymour is often teased for his youthful appearance but for the past week he has been positively schoolmarmish toward the government of which he is a member, political editor Rob Hosking writes. His comment on the government’s handling of the convention centre is one example and what he says about Eleanor Catton is another. ACT marks its 21st anniversary this year and goes into its annual conference this weekend.  The big question is still whether ACT is to carry that tradition on, successfully.

What is it about Contact Energy [NZX: CEN] that makes it want to alienate itself from its shareholders so much? Shoeshine asks this question after the company announced this week it is considering investing in geothermal projects on the Pacific’s “ring of fire” instead of expected capital returns or higher dividends. By the same token, are minority shareholders too limited in their vision?

Changes to how the government delivers public services have barely begun, Finance Minister Bill English says. In a wide-ranging speech this week, the finance minister traversed the way technological change is enforcing radical change to how governments operate.  The fact so much information is now available to so many people, via ever-more-powerful processing capacity, means the public sector is no longer able to act as a kind of choke point for information, he says.  That goes beyond technology: other policies such as national education standards, social housing and other involvement

When it comes to lobbying for its economic importance, the cruise ship industry has it all over casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group, Nevil Gibson writes. While SkyCity has been publicly negotiating with the government over the fate of international standard convention centre in Auckland, the cruise industry is in the midst of its biggest season ever.

Motoring editor David Linklater finds a car he says is more exclusive and extravagant than the‘best’ car in the world.

Technology editor Chris Keall finds out how the taxi industry can beat upstart Uber.

Canadian economist and now Kiwi resident Eric Crampton reckons he needs to read NBR and The Economist every week. But when he tried to buy a subscription to the latter, he discovered that The Economist costs three times as much to buy in New Zealand as in Canada – and that leads to him celebrating parallel importing.