Companies must break boundaries

Lloyd Morrison makes it clear that he does not want to talk about his private life or be seen to "pontificate" in any interview with the Business Herald.

He does not want to talk about life outside his business, but it does not take long before he is well outside the bounds of Infratil and its investments in energy (Trustpower), airports (Wellington and Glasgow's Prestwick) and the Port of Tauranga.

Over the past year he has been seen not only in the business pages but on television and in the news pages promoting a change to the New Zealand flag.

Morrison is a great New Zealand cheerleader, eager to get the country thinking about where it is heading - not leaving it up to politicians.

That is despite little scope being left in New Zealand for new Infratil investments, with further infrastructure privatisations off the political agenda of both major parties.

"Although I believe very strongly that the country would be better off with a change of ownership structures across a lot of areas of infrastructure, I just don't think it will happen."

Changes are needed in the energy sector, airports and sea ports, said Morrison. Ownership changes are also needed among the energy distribution companies, most of which are owned by locally elected trusts.

"I don't think they are the right kind of owners in the long term. City council ownership of water and waste water, the roading area - all of these areas are under-performing and need improved accountability."

There is very little acknowledgement of the benefits from freeing up the telecommunications sector, for example, he says.

Infratil and Morrison are keen on getting involved in debates and fights. They took the lead in opposing Air New Zealand's wish to form an alliance with Qantas, spending millions fighting the deal before the Commerce Commission and in the High Court.

"Where it affects us directly - we will have a say. Our reaction on Qantas-Air NZ was disproportionate to the amount of impact it would have had on Wellington Airport. On that basis, Auckland Airport or Christchurch Airport would have been a lot more active, but they were both disappointingly inactive."

This leads him to the debate of making New Zealand a better place for business, and also its people.

"There is a reluctance for business leaders or business people to get involved in a wider debate but fundamentally we believe that the reason why Infratil has performed is not because we're good at our jobs, but because we've been good at identifying the right places to invest."

He says it does not matter how good a manager is, if he or she is in a declining industry, there is little chance of being successful.

"Most people, whether they are a dairy owner, corporate magnate or even an artist in Switzerland, are better off than the best in Zimbabwe.

"New Zealand has to make a decision - and New Zealand business people need to accept that it's not adequate for them, if they're really delivering value on a long-term basis, just to stick to your short-term self-interest or just the issues that affect you."

Other companies, such as those with big travel bills, or big users of airfreight, would have been affected worse than Infratil by a Qantas-Air NZ merger, says Morrison, yet they were very reluctant to get involved.

"We actually participate in these debates.

"We're not doing it because we're a charity, we're doing it because we're a New Zealand company and it's in our interests that New Zealand is better off and more competitive as a nation - because Infratil shareholders will benefit if New Zealand performs economically.

And while Infratil grew out of the New Zealand privatisation process, Morrison says it is now doing the opposite of what happened to many local companies, because it created a vehicle to participate in privatisation.

"Instead of a lot of that intellectual capital from the changing structure of the utilities area residing in the hands of people who were able to take it, as foreign-owned companies, and apply it in other markets we've taken that expertise, applied it to a New Zealand business and now we're going out and buying assets in other parts of the world."

CV

Name: H R Lloyd Morrison

Qualifications: Bachelor of laws (Hons)

Age: 47, married with five children.

Directorships: HRL Morrison & Co (executive chairman)Infratil (managing director)HRL Morrison & Co (Australia)Morrison & Co Infrastructure ManagementWellington International AirportPort of TaurangaTrustPowerInfratil Airport Holdings

Community involvement: HRL Morrison Music Trust, HRL Morrison Arts Trust, Chamber Music New Zealand Foundation, Promethean Editions (music publisher and composer management for John Psathas, Gareth Farr) Morse Media Smokecds.com; NZMusic.com; Opuscds.com, Capital Recordings (contemporary music), NZXSports: Snow.co.nz; Surf.co.nz; Waterpolo.co.nz NZFlag.com Trust chairman

Morrison established Morrison & Co in 1988. As executive chairman, he has been primarily responsible for the development and expansion of the firm. Morrison & Co has been an adviser and investor in the infrastructure sector in New Zealand, Australia, the US and Britain.

In March 1994, Morrison & Co formed Infratil, which has subsequently become a public company and which remains run by Morrison & Co.