Editorial: Will the 'good corporate citizen' stand up?

Mark Dawson, Editor of Wanganui Chronicle

IS AFFCO a good corporate citizen, asked The Nation, one of the best news shows on New Zealand television.

In the weekend's programme the focus was mainly on the Talleys-owned Affco Imlay works in Whanganui.

Deputy mayor Hamish McDouall was in his best diplomatic form, saying: "The more Affco becomes a good corporate citizen, the better."

Others on the programme suggested Affco didn't care about its workers and that it was using its position as the major employer in small rural communities to hold those communities to ransom.

The company's battles with the Meatworkers' Union have seen its actions ruled illegal in court; it has been investigated 77 times in five years over health and safety issues by WorkSafe NZ; the Whanganui District Council monitoring in 2014 found Affco had dumped more than three times the consented amount of waste in the treatment plant.
Then there are the millions of dollars it owes the council in unpaid waste charges - charges which the company disputes.

Mr McDouall, again diplomatically, told the programme that Affco challenges the council's charging model "consistently ... as is their right to do".

Affco told the programme it was "a good corporate citizen", though it might have some work to do to convince the doubters.

However, the fact remains that it is just about Whanganui's biggest employer which makes it a very valuable asset, and it is the biggest contributor - by some measure - into a waste system which is proving increasingly costly.

So there is a pressing need for an agreement between the company and the council, both over how much it will dump and what it will pay, and that may take compromise on both sides.