Murray Horn is a man on a mission and the hope will be that it's not an impossible one.The National Health Board chairman was tapped by Agriculture Minister David Carter to act as a wool industry convenor, announced this week.Dr Horn's role of the next fe
Murray Horn is a man on a mission and the hope will be that it’s not an impossible one.
The National Health Board chairman was tapped by Agriculture Minister David Carter to act as a wool industry convenor, announced this week.
Dr Horn’s role of the next few weeks is to speak with up to 40 wool industry representatives in an attempt to find some common ground on which a brand new industry body could be based.
“I’ll be talking to people one on one first to understand their interests and their perspectives,” Dr Horn told NBR.
“Success is going to depend on the willingness to engage with the process.”
However, Dr Horn said it seemed widely accepted that there was a need to create a single industry voice.
It’s likely Dr Horn will use his experience with his review of New Zealand’s health system last year.
Appointed by Health Minister Tony Ryall to create a series of recommendations that could be used to reform the health sector, Dr Horn was later appointed as chairman of the new National Health Board.
Dr Horn said it was unlikely that he would write an extensive report following his meetings with the wool industry.
Instead, the same group of people previously gathered together by Mr Carter would be briefed of his findings.
“I’m approached this with an open mind and a fresh pair of eyes, but there needs to be a clear agenda and a way forward with ideas of how to implement it.”
Mr Carter has intimated this approach is the last gasp of the strong wool industry in New Zealand.
Among the recommendations created by Mr Carter’s wool taskforce was a single industry voice.
It also recommended a complete mindshift from a supply-dominated perspective to market-let initiatives.
