Business leader Rob Campbell: ‘I don’t mind being called a Marxist’ - Money Talks

Rob Campbell, former chairman of Te Whatu Ora. Photo / Michael Craig

After a high-flying business career which saw him chair the boards of GPG, Sky City, Tourism Holdings and Summerset, Rob Campbell finds himself increasingly drawn back to his activist roots.

Chancellor at AUT, chair of Ara Ake, chair of NZ Rural Land - Campbell continues to be a professional director and investor but refuses to shy away from saying what he really thinks - even if it is controversial.

He found that out when he was dumped as chair of Te Whatu Ora by the Labour Government for expressing his political views on National’s plan to scrap Three Waters.

Speaking on the Money Talks podcast, Campbell admits there are times in his career when he wished he’d been a little less outspoken.

“Lots of times, but not on Te Whatu Ora. I stand by everything that I said,” he says.

“Indeed, within a few months, what I said about Three Waters became Labour Party policy. So no point in regretting that. I do regret not being part of the ongoing Te Whatu Ora journey.

“But I’m still involved with quite a lot of those debates, in fact, this week, I’m involved in two conferences where I’m still contributing to the debate about health policies. So no, I don’t regret that.”

Campbell talks about growing up in the 1960s in a Dalmatian (Croatian) family and life as a student activist during the early 1970s. His first directorship was on the board of anarchist bookshop - Resistance Books - in Wellington.

He trained as an economist and worked his way to national prominence as a union spokesperson.

His connections to the Labour Party saw him brought onto the board of BNZ, where he met Ron Brierley, leading to a role on the board of GPG and a successful career in corporate governance.

But Campbell has never forgotten his political roots and seems increasingly drawn to activism.

“I’ve just got a bit more time to be mischievous now,” he says.

When asked what he’d do if he was made Prime Minister for a day, Campbell says he’d give Green co-leader Chloe Swarbrick a call.

“I think what disturbs me most at the moment is that we are clearly nearing the end in terms of pollution and the damage that has been caused to the natural environment and the damage that’s been caused to people.

“You know we should be taking note of that and it’s beyond my capability to devise the new system but, I think it’s pretty obvious that unless we find some better way to organise economic things, we are headed for a huge disaster,” he says.

“I would tell David Seymour and Winston to go and take a running jump and give Chloe Swarbrick a call. Yeah.”

Campbell says he’s not bothered by what the business community thinks of his left-leaning views.

“I don’t mind being called a Marxist. I regard that as a badge of honour,” he says.

“I’d rather be a Marxist than a Friedmanite, if you take those two extremes. But the system we have is one that relies on, frankly, exploitation... exploitation of resources, and exploitation of people.”

“I think it’s a time for activism. If ever there was a time for activism, it feels to me like the late 1960s, early 1970s, where, uh, to take that old phrase, you know, if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

“Something big has to happen. You might as well be part of the solution.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more from Rob Campbell.

Money Talks is a podcast run by the NZ Herald. It isn’t about personal finance and isn’t about economics - it’s just well-known New Zealanders talking about money and sharing some stories about the impact it’s had on their lives and how it has shaped them.

The series is hosted by Liam Dann, business editor-at-large for the Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.

Money Talks is available on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.