Heather du Plessis-Allan: Adrian Orr and Neil Quigley’s messy saga a lesson in transparency

Adrian Orr's resignation followed a letter about his behaviour, leading to his stepping down. Photo / Mark Mitchell

THE FACTS

• Reserve Bank chairman Neil Quigley resigned after Adrian Orr’s contentious departure was revealed.
• Orr’s resignation followed a letter about his behaviour, leading to his stepping down.
• The Ombudsman forced the release of information, exposing attempts to conceal the true events.

If you want to know why the Reserve Bank chairman Neil Quigley has quit, it’s because Adrian Orr’s resignation turns out to have been a lot more juicy than we were first told.

Orr stepped down. He stayed out of the office for five days. Christian Hawkesby took over. He got sent a letter about his behaviour. And then he quit.

It all played out in a torrid two weeks.

It started with a meeting with Treasury on Thursday, February 20. Then there was a meeting with Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Monday, February 24. Orr seems to have got a bit cross. Three days later, Thursday, February 27, his boss, Neil Quigley, wrote to him about his behaviour. On behalf of the board, he wrote about the “tenor of dialogue” at the meetings.

That was the day Orr stepped down, Hawkesby took over and Orr left the office. He didn’t come back the next day, Friday. He also didn’t come back on Monday. Instead he wrote back rejecting the assertions. On Wednesday he quit and the board withdrew the letter.

Reserve Bank chairman Neil Quigley resigned after Adrian Orr's contentious departure was revealed. Photo / Mark Mitchell

That’s a lot more salacious than what we were originally told, which is that Orr’s sudden resignation was a “personal decision”. This is not the version that the bank wanted us to know. The only reason we know it is because the Ombudsman forced the bank to release it.

The bank has actually tried its damnedest to bury the truth for nearly six months. At first, when asked why Orr was gone, Quigley claimed it was for personal reasons. Then the bank delayed releasing documents requested by media under the Official Information Act.

The Ombudsman forced the release of information, exposing attempts to conceal the true events. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Then the Treasury (which the bank can’t control) released more information. Quigley emailed it expressing “shock” that it had even recorded a minute and warned that releasing it “would immediately destroy the goodwill” between the bank and the Treasury. The Treasury pushed go anyway. Then the Ombudsman forced more information out.

At every point, the original story has unravelled more. But, the bank had made what should have been a two-day-Adrian-Orr-resignation story into a six-month drama that made it look shady.

Adrian Orr's resignation scandal leads to Neil Quigley's departure. Photo / Mark Mitchell

That’s why Quigley has quit. He was called in for a chat with the Finance Minister on Friday afternoon. He quit at 4.55pm. She says if he hadn’t quit, she would have asked him to resign.

He had become a distraction, eroding confidence in what should be one of our most trustworthy institutions. It was possible Quigley may also have tainted the appointment of the next governor by association with questions over his lack of judgment. But more importantly, if he could omit such key information about Orr’s resignation, how could the public trust him in the future.

I don’t enjoy Quigley resigning. As far as I’m concerned, he did us a favour by getting rid of Orr, who must surely go down as one of the worst governors in the central bank’s history.

It really is a lesson in why it’s better to just be honest as soon as possible. Because that way this sorry saga would have claimed just one scalp, not two.

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