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Former Auckland Rugby League chair Cameron McGregor has condemned the organisation after his life membership was revoked, calling it “out of control.”
McGregor has denied any wrongdoing, claiming he acted in the best interests of rugby league.
League stalwart Cameron McGregor has been stripped of his life membership of Auckland Rugby League, and has come out swinging, saying none of its current decisions are valid and it is “out of control”.
“I know what I have done is right and my values that I adhere to havenever wavered and the truth will come out.”
McGregor spoke to the Herald as news emerged that Auckland Rugby League (ARL) had revoked the life memberships of himself and former director and ARL employee Pat Carthy citing alleged management and governance failures during their time on the board.
It follows the Herald revealing details of a report by financial experts PwC into the financial management and governance of ARL which highlighted what it said were multiple conflicts of interests and a total loss of $7.2m which PwC attributed in part to poor or undocumented decision-making.
The PwC report also uncovered one employee at the organisation who is alleged to have manipulated ARL’s invoicing system and used an ARL credit card to take $183,798.
It stated a review of credit card statements over the eight years it had studied would “have easily identified the large volume and value of transactions made at SkyCity” by an employee known to gamble.
The report was ordered by ARL’s new chief executive Rebecca Russell who started at the organisation two years ago. The Herald understands the report has now been sent to Auckland clubs and those subject to adverse findings.
Rebecca Russell, CEO of Auckland Rugby League. Photo / Michael Craig
McGregor was identified by PwC as having multiple conflicting roles - such as chairing ARL while holding the same role with ARL’s investment arm Carlaw Holdings Trust and the Warriors during ARL’s year-long ownership of the club.
PwC also found around $80,000 had been paid to McGregor’s accounting firm, McGregor Bailey, with inadequate documentation supporting the payments, given his conflicts.
McGregor said his car had been graffitied with obscenities in the aftermath of the Herald’s reporting of the PwC report.
He also denied any inappropriate actions on his part, saying: “I’ve given my heart and soul to the game over many, many years. I’ve done more than my best for ARL over the years. That’s why all of this is rubbish.”
‘Out of control’
McGregor told the Herald ARL was “out of control” and he believed Russell needed to leave the role as chief executive.
However, he said that was up to the Auckland clubs which were preparing to vote from October 7 on new directors for the board. The process was caught on the eligibility of those clubs to vote as they needed current audited accounts to do so and ARL was responsible for helping them complete those records, he said.
“If the clubs come together - and that’s what NZRL wants them to do - the clubs can control what’s going to happen.”
McGregor and three suspended directors - including Carthy - had appealed to NZRL with claims ARL was out of line.
NZRL found itself unable to overturn decisions made by ARL and the national body last month organised meetings with ARL’s clubs to air concerns.
However, McGregor said the decision found that ARL was operating outside its constitution because it had insufficient directors. As a result, he said the appeal ruled that its decisions were unconstitutional and should be reversed.
“They can do anything they want and it’s not going to make a difference.”
The accouncement Auckland Rugby League had bought the Warriors saw (from left) CEO Cameron George with Autex Industries (shareholder) CEO Mark Robinson and Managing Director Rob Croot and Carlaw Heritage Trust's Cameron McGregor, who went on to be chairman of the Warriors. Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
McGregor said any payments to his business during his 20 years as chairman were worth a fraction of the hours he’s spent working for the sport. “I would hate to think what I’ve lost in income.”
Asked about PwC’s position that it couldn’t find records of conflicts being declared, he said: “Everything I did was discussed with the board at all times. And I was scrupulous in that. If they haven’t found evidence of that, that’s an issue.”
He did acknowledge that he blended his financial assessments around the Warriors with those from Deloittes but denied doing so “filtered” or misrepresented the information seen by fellow board members. As a chartered accountant with more than 40 years experience, he said he had experience and knowledge to impart.
“Quite clearly, it’s out of control. Everyone has resigned from the board. They’re trying to use legal means to stay in there. It’s questionable how they are still there.”
McGregor said the PwC report was a “one-sided point of view” and he had refused to be interviewed by its investigators because it was a “fishing expedition”.
“I haven’t been charged with anything. If (ARL) believe I had done something wrong they could do what I’ve done and go to NZRL.”
McGregor said there were “system audits” and qualified accountants in oversight roles throughout his time as ARL chairman and annual financial audits that were passed.
Asked if there was an answer as to how the long-running fraud could happen in a functional office, he said: “I believe there is (an answer) but I couldn’t tell you.”
McGregor said many staff had left ARL when Russell started and the departures cost the organisation “a lot of institutional knowledge”. “It wouldn’t surprise me if there was very little in the way of records.”
The Herald asked McGregor how he could stay conflict-free when he was chairman of the ARL, its charitable investment arm CHT and the Warriors, he said: “What I was doing was always in the best interests of rugby league.
“The type [of conflict of interest] that’s not good is where I’m somewhere for personal gain - and I have never had those conflicts of interest.”
‘This is all rubbish’
McGregor said it had taken him eight months of negotiations with Eric Watson to buy the Warriors - a purchase the PwC report said cost ARL $4.2m by the time it was sold 14 months later. He said he had done 10 times more work than financial advisors Deloitte’s.
“I would hate to think what I’ve lost in income. I’ve done more than my best for ARL over the years. That’s why all of this is rubbish.”
PwC found McGregor had misrepresented financial information from Deloitte’s about the value of the Warriors. Asked about this, he said: “I had my own opinion on it.” On the professional advice, he said he was a chartered accountant of more than 40 years experience and when considering Deloitte’s position “you agree with some of it and disagree with some of it”.
When presenting that information to the board, he said he offered Deloitte’s view and his own.
He said $4.2m lost in the sale of the Warriors 14 months later would not have happened if he had not been removed from the CHT Trust because of his opposition to the sale.
“They needn’t have lost $4m,” said McGregor, adding that retaining ownership would have seen a return on investment in the years ahead. On the loss, he said: “It had nothing to do with me in the end.”
However, he said those remaining on the board would not have been the right owners if it had been kept. “The people who came after wouldn’t have been able to control the Warriors. They didn’t have the governance experience.”
McGregor said the clubs with the power to vote directors onto the board needed to “get a new board in there and they can sort all of this out”.
In his opinion, that should include whether Russell could continue as chief executive. “You’ve got the wrong people in there,” he said. “At the end of the day, forget about the PwC report - what’s best for the game going forward.”
McGregor said he would not be standing. “I’ve had enough. Been there, done that. Look at what’s happened. Why would I want to put my hand up again?”
He said he would like to return to the CHT board which he, alongside fellow former director Sel Pearson, had developed into a $100 million-plus entity - of which CHT’s share was valued at $78 million - by developing the old Carlaw Park site.
Why life memberships were revoked
Russell alleged management and governance failures during McGregor and Carthy’s time on the board as the reason for life memberships being revoked. “Our investigations into the ARL show that significant, poorly managed conflicts of interest often lead to financial mismanagement.”
Carthy was general manager and then chief operating officer at ARL while serving as board secretary for over a decade which covered periods over which PwC had raised concerns.
Russell said: “When we started to pull at the threads of this investigation it became clear that there had been significant lack of governance and poor management decisions made for decades. To date nobody has been held to account for the mismanagement.”
Russell said life membership of ARL was “reserved for the most esteemed representatives of the game” who had served the league community for at least 20 years and was limited to 20 living life members.
ARL chairman Shane Price said life membership was an honour reserved for those considered to have made a significant contribution to the organisation or the game.
Price believed the PwC investigation showed that McGregor and Carthy no longer met the criterial for ARL life membership.
The appeals to NZRL by three directors suspended last year - including Carthy - led to the discovery the national body had no power to overturn ARL’s decisions.
NZRL went on to organise a meeting with ARL’s clubs to air concerns with chief executive Peters asked those present: “Do you know that $500,000 is being spent of your money on that investigation? Is that looking backwards? And should we be looking forward?”
Asked when NZRL last had an independent review in the nature of the PWC report, Peters told the Herald it was annually audited. “There is no requirement for any further review.”
The Herald’s revelation of the PwC findings come ahead of voting opening next Monday to appoint new directors to ARL’s board which has thinned out further following the resignations with others leaving.
Russell’s organisational and office reforms have won support from Sir Graham Lowe, a towering figure in the game, as bringing professionalism to the sporting organisation.
Her moves have also had detractors who have dubbed Russell, “The Duchess”.
Russell said the work during her two years in the job had led to discovering “significant management and governance failures that led to losses” and there was a focus to ensure systems were created to avoid future issues of the same kind.
“The cost of the investigation is minimal compared to the importance of securing the future of the game,” she said.
David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He first joined the Herald in 2004.
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