ACC boss Stewart quits amid boardroom shake-up, privacy breaches

Wednesday 13th June 2012

Accident Compensation Corp chief executive Ralph Stewart has quit after yesterday's boardroom clean-out and the continued fall-out from the Bronwyn Pullar saga. "The events of recent days and the departure of our chairman and a number of our directors has brought me to the point where I have decided to step down as CEO," Stewart said in a statement to staff.

"I am deeply frustrated that the benefits of the scheme and the great work we do has been overshadowed by recent events." Stewart's exit comes a day after chairman John Judge said he would resign from the board at the end of the financial year on June 30 after reaching an agreement with ACC Minister Judith Collins, who said it was now time for ACC to "refocus" on its handling of private client information to restore public trust.

Stewart has only been in the role for six months, leaving Axa New Zealand after the wealth manager's merger with AMP, in an appointment seen as laying the groundwork for opening up ACC to private competition. "You have made great strides on our plan to transform ACC. I'm going to ask you all to keep faith with the plan, which I know is supported by the Minister and has been supported by the board for many years," he said.

"My focus now is on ensuring a smooth and orderly transition." Judge’s future came under a cloud after the police declined to lay charges against an ACC claimant, Pullar, relating to a leak of private information by the corporation to her, which she allegedly threatened to publish.

Judge had backed Stewart’s decision to take the issue to the police. Stewart's email effectively confirms reports that deputy chair John McCliskie, who brokered the meeting between Pullar and ACC managers, and director Rob Campbell, have also left the ACC board. The scandal brought about the resignation of former ACC Minister Nick Smith, who wrote two letters on a ministerial letterhead in support of Pullar, a personal friend.

The police decision was his first step in a possible return to Cabinet. Prime Minister John Key said last week that Smith was missed at the Cabinet table, where he also held the environment and local government portfolios, but that separate investigations by the Privacy Commissioner and Auditor-General needed to be completed before his reinstatement could be formally considered.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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