Collinge fired as Vector director

By CHRIS DANIELS, energy writer

Vector director John Collinge has been sacked from the board just a day after revealing secret privatisation plans for the Auckland powerlines company.

But the head of Auckland Energy Consumer Trust, Vector's owner, said Collinge's seat on the board had been in doubt for months.

Trust chairman Warren Kyd said possible conflicts with Collinge's other role as a Vector trustee had raised concerns.

"The decision has followed several months of dialogue with the Minister of Energy, Pete Hodgson, regarding the appropriateness of appointing trustees as directors," Kyd said.

Collinge remains a Vector trustee.

On June 8, Collinge had been told he would be removed within seven days, if he did not resign.

Collinge told the Herald on Tuesday that various proposals to float Vector, which distributes dividends each year to hundreds of thousands of Auckland power users, were being hawked by Kyd.

One of these was a plan to float on the stock exchange, another was to leave only one-third of Vector's shares owned by the trust.

In a stinging rebuke issued on behalf of the trust yesterday, Kyd said it was "extremely unfortunate but not surprising that Collinge had not chosen to resign with dignity, but had instead elected to politicise a decision that had been made in the best interests of the company and good governance".

Collinge, he said, was expressing his displeasure with being told he could not be both a director and trustee. He described Collinge's comments to the Herald describing secret agendas to privatise Vector as "nonsense".

They were "sour grapes" and there was no secret about Vector's growth aspirations. The board had a duty to enhance the value of the company.

"It is entirely appropriate that it communicates with the trust about options it may be considering to raise capital."

Collinge, who earlier this week would not talk about his position as Vector board member, last night said privatisation had always been at the heart of trust politics. He had campaigned for a position on the trust on the platform of selling no more than 24.9 per cent of the company.

He said the trust had offered him the job of deputy chairman of the Vector board, in exchange for his resignation as a member of the trust.

Despite the kudos of the job of deputy chairman of Vector, he rejected this, since a pro-privatiser could be appointed to the trust in his place. He said there was no problem with having a trustee also serving as a Vector director.