Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister David Clark says a new Grocery Commissioner will hold the sector to account - but won't be appointed until early next year.
To help nudge that slow-train recruitment process along, I asked readers and colleagues for suggestions on who should fill thenew role of supermarket sheriff.
Reckon someone else has better chops? Nominate them in Comments below.
• Dr John Small: "A current Commissioner at Commerce Commission who did a pretty good job with the Market Study. Owns a dairy farm in his spare time."
• Dr Ross Patterson: "Former Telecommunications Commissioner, very highly regarded by that industry. Would he come back?"
• Katherine Rich: "CEO of the Food and Grocery Council. Ex politician, great understanding of the issues. The supermarkets would be apoplectic, but she's smart and well qualified."
Katherine Rich, CEO of the Food and Grocery Council. Photo / Supplied
• Andy Matthews: "Competition lawyer in Auckland who has advised some parties through this debate."
• Tex Edwards: Edwards, nominated by Movac partner Mark Vivian and others, knows his way around monopoly and duopoly-busting on the private-sector side of the fence, at least. He was cofounder of 2degrees, and was a director of Hawaiki Cable, which broke the Southern Cross Cable's monopoly as our only major broadband connection to the outside world. Edwards - who is associated with a group that might try to fill the gap if one does open for a third supermarket player - has recently been arguing that the two dominant operators be forced to divest between 80 and 120 of their 400 or so stores.)
• Ernie Newman: Newman, nominated by Listener and BusinessDesk tech columnist Peter Griffin and others, was the long-time head of the Telecommunications Users Association, which lobbied hard, and successfully, to break Telecom's hold on the market as a vertically-integrated wholesaler and retailer. As a consultant, he has done work for the Food and Grocery Council.
• Heather Simpson: Nominated by Matthew Hooton. Although it's fair to say he has not always been a fan of policies that "H2" has pushed through, and may even have his tongue in his cheek in this instance, Hooton has previously described the former Helen Clark trouble-shooter as "formidable" and "a tactical genius".
• Without backing him, one reader predicted that Kris Faafoi would turn up in the role, while another predicted that Jim Bolger would fill it (possibly a fair should, given Bolger has proved something of a go-to business crossover player for Labour with roles including Kiwibank chair and heading the fair pay working group.
Kris Faafoi - former immigration, broadcasting and justice minister - is leaving politics. Photo / Mark Mitchell
• Paul Swain and David Cunliffe, who both had key roles to play as Telecom-busters in the 2000s, also got a look-in. It got lost a bit in subsequent political clouds, but both did very effective work that laid the ground for a radical telco industry overhaul. Both are consultants these days.
• Dean Hall suggested a Christine Rankin comeback: "Christine Rankin. Very on-brand for this season, would give the writers plenty to work with."
Former Consumer New Zealand chief executive Sue Chetwin Photo / Brett Phibbs
• Another name that popped up was Sue Chetwin, the former newspaper editor and Consumer NZ chief executive who is now a fulltime director, with recent roles on the Government's Pharmac review panel, alongside Financial Markets Authority and Law Society roles.
• Other readers wanted "Someone from Child Poverty Action Group" or "Honestly: someone who's been running a food bank/KidsCan /support service for a while, and really understands how food prices affect health and quality of life, and also understands the grocery industry."
But in fact, any of the candidates mentioned above, bar Small, would be a departure for the Commerce Commission - which will host the Grocery Commissioner - and is stuffed with law, accountancy and public policy degrees.
