SPORT GENERAL - Peters: Vital to get the figures right

CHAIRMAN Wayne Peters hopes a "full and frank" disclosure of the Northland Rugby Union's (NRU) financial position next month will squash rumours about the perilous state of the union accounts.
Peters is now acting as chief executive of the NRU following the sudden exit of Australian Rob Malone. But the wait for the NRU to declare what is expected to be a record loss for the year is only fuelling rumours that the union has blown their budget by $500,000, possibly more.
The annual meeting originally set down for the first week in March has been rescheduled four times as Peters struggles to assemble a full cast of NRU board members to attend and get the all clear from auditors to declare the finances.
The annual meeting is now set for Wednesday, May 7, six weeks later than usual.
"It is not as if the annual meeting has been delayed one more day than is necessary. What is critical is that what we declare is an accurate representation of the accounts," Peters said.
"For that I am not going to make any apologies. If people want inaccurate information then fine. I am not going to walk into an annual general meeting and do anything other then give them a full and frank declaration of our financial position," he said.
"Given the negative publicity, I think it is absolutely critical that we have the situation for 2008 advised now so that the board members, and the council and the stakeholders can say this is where we sit."
Peters was adamant the NRU was now ready to open their books after ``the auditor asked us to look at some issues to make sure they are comfortable with the final figures' and said he would announce the size of the NRU loss tomorrow.
But there will be some tough questions to answer in the wake of Malone's hasty departure as chief executive and some massive cost cutting policies that have seen several staff at NRU headquarters made redundant.
Malone's tenure at the NRU ended at Easter, with a year of his contract still to go. Peters refused to comment, but did say the NRU board had been surprised by the state of the accounts once Malone left.
"The accounts situation last year was one where, for a period of time, it would be fair to say that the board was not fully `au fait' with what the situations of the accounts involved. Pretty much since the end of last year that changed and people will now say that we were not too far away from the original (budget) projections," he said.
"I am expecting people to say that a lot of the innuendo about the Northland rugby accounts has been misplaced. But in saying that, if you asked me wether the accounts over those years would have been achieved with accuracy, the answer would be no."
Since news of the budget blowout, which Peters earlier said would be $350,000, there have been drastic budget measures at the NRU, including laying off staff and cutting player wage bills to try to get the union back in the black in time for a crucial New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) review next year.
The NRU had withdrawn travel subsidies for club rugby and announced drastic budget restrictions for age-group representative teams next season.
Peters said he hoped to have the NRU back in the black by the end of next year.
• NOTE: This story appears on page 9 of the Northern Advocate, Monday, April 21.