«
»

Do Not Lie To Each Other

By David

Normally I am very suspect of biblical quotes being used in a secular context. They sound so pious and superior. However in the context of Swimming New Zealand’s recent behaviour this quote from Colossians 3:9-10 seems entirely appropriate. I doubt that Coulter is capable of lying straight in bed. The list of dishonesty against his name is spectacular. Try this sample.

  1. He doesn’t even bother commenting when his organization alters Annual General Meeting minutes.
  2. He authorizes SNZ progressing their Project Vanguard way beyond the approval given to him by the sport’s owners.
  3. He disbands a committee formed by the Regions at an Annual General Meeting without seeking the approval of the Regions.
  4. He bursts into print in the New Zealand Herald with an opinion piece that breaches totally a deal done by Kerry McDonald with the Regions, twenty-four hours earlier.
  5. His double speak treachery seeks to undermine the good work of Chris Ineson.
  6. The sport he runs has spent $16 million over a ten year period and has yet to win a world swimming event.
  7. He was complicit in kicking double Olympic Champion and SNZ Life Member, Danyon Loader, out of a SNZ general meeting.
  8. He says there is a threat of SPARC withdrawing funding from SNZ without any documentary evidence to support the threat. He is using SPARC to protect his personal position.

The list goes on and on. His new mentor, Kerry McDonald, is making Coulter worse. You see, McDonald is good at the shady side of corporate dealing. Coulter, his new student, is learning quickly and is doing all in his power to shaft the Regions; Regions he is supposed to report to and be working to please.

Coulter is reported to have said that the resignation of his discredited Board would be “catastrophic”. Far, far away from being catastrophic, the resignation of this Board is the sport’s only salvation. The current Board has lost all authority to govern. It is essential that the leadership of the sport obtains a new mandate to rule. Coulter and his mates and especially Kerry McDonald, who was specifically responsible for insulting our best swimmer, should have nothing to do with the sport of swimming ever again.

Perhaps you don’t believe me. After all, I have had my controversial moments; a quality used and exaggerated by my detractors. No such stain tarnishes Bronwen Radford, the President of the Bay of Plenty Centre. Her character is impeccable. Well, have a read of the following email sent out today by Bronwen Radford. For one hundred reasons you may not believe my call for this Board to resign. But it is hard to walk away from Bronwen Radford. Here is her email today to the Regions of Swimming New Zealand. Coulter and McDonald you are guilty as charged; as guilty as sin.

Hi all

You will recall during Sunday’s meeting that we were told the Swimming New Zealand Board was totally united, good operators and that there was a unity of decision making. You will also recall that I challenged this and said “my understanding is that Board members felt excluded, not listened to and uninvolved in decisions that were made.” You will also recall when Kerry McDonald said that this was incorrect that I stated I would speak with SNZ Board members who had told me this previously and to verify their position. You will also recall that some of you reinforced to Kerry McDonald that “and she will”. Well, here it is guys, I have.

I have now spoken to multiple Board members and I have had it confirmed:

  1. This Board is not united
  2. Board members are regularly excluded from decision making

Obviously there was more information I was given however as I have stated above this is strictly within the limits of what I said I would ask and report on. I do not wish to embarrass any individual Board member by revealing further details.

Were we in the same meeting????

The following article appeared in this morning’s NZ Herald

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10745571

The meeting I was in agreed that the only media response until the regions had responded on the subject to the letter to the SNZ Board would be through the Website and or Kerry McDonald. I have been told that this position was also undertaken by the SNZ Board. I am infuriated that the trust we collectively extended has been broken. My telephone has been running hot since Sunday. I have honoured the commitment that we made. Murray Coulter has not. This is further evidence if it is needed while I remain adamant that we need new leadership.

I am tired of the threat of removing SPARC funding. The NZ Herald reports the following from Peter Miskimmin

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10745104

SPARC CEO Peter Miskimmin says they need to try to let SNZ work out its problems.

“We have been concerned but have two independent directors on the SNZ board in Nelson Cull and Kerry McDonald. Clearly we want to see sound governance and leadership again. We had heard people felt a sense of disquiet but hopefully having two directors there is protecting the government investment.”

Mr Miskimmin does not say that SPARC is threatening the withdrawal of funding. He clearly says the government investment is protected by the appointment of Mr McDonald and Nelson Cull not by the retention of the current board.

Regards

Bronwen Radford

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 18th, 2011 at 4:48 am and is filed under New Zealand . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  • Tom

    My respect for Browen continues to grow.

  • J

    Bronwyn, I follow this controversy from overseas. I am increasingly horrified at what is going on in my country in many areas. One quarter of our children go to school hungry. Our youth suicide rate is appalling. And money is wasted by SNZ, and goodness knows how many other organisations, lining the pockets of people out to protect their own incomes. The last few posts here have been encouraging. The silent majority are commenting faster than I can keep up with the blog. We will do without SPARC funding if necessary, they say. That, to me, is true Kiwi spirit.

    David may well be controversial, and his tone at times a little questionable, but thank goodness he has highlighted what is really happening. He is probably well used to being “in the gun”. Not all are so brave.

    Bronwyn, you are a star. New Zealand needs the honest, hardworking, and normally silent majority to stand up and be counted. I vote for Bronwen to be the face of the “silent majority”, showing the world that when the chips are down, “Kiwis can do”.

  • Chris

    Good on you David.

    The problem with our people is that they are trying to play with a straight bat, and if there was an agreement for a media blackout (naively in my view), why are we surprised that SNZ had no intention of honouring that.

    And why are we surprised that all of a sudden (as Tom mentioned in your previous blog) their PR machine is going into overdrive by wheeling out swimmers to make a statement – in fact, Gareth Kean’s was saying nothing of the sort about SNZ’s structure or “plan”. He was commenting about the talented swimmers, and so he should. Of course leaving out the obvious that Gareth Kean has never swum out of the High Performance Centre and that he and his coach get ZERO funding (other than Gareth’s own personal PEGS for being ranked in world top 16).

    And yet again continuing the lie about the World Champs results is bloody appalling. Their PR guy having been caught weeks ago, red-handed, having to admit “ah, sorry guys, but I only get fed this stuff from SNZ”, he is at it again, trotting out the same lies.

    Don’t be surprised to see a piece about some swimmer’s granny saying that SPARC are going to pull all their funding and its ALL THE REGION’S FAULT, and my grandson won’t be able to swim anymore.

  • Stevie

    David, I believe that my bloggs here have been among the most critical of SNZ’s reaction – OR RATHER LACK OF REACTION – to Ineson’s report etc.

    But is it woth looking for a compromise that the regions would like?

    I have tried hard to explain what is going on with SPARC and what SPARC’s current agenda is. Make no mistake about it – SPARC loathes criticism of SPARC. It is likely that the “campaign” to publicise the idea that removal of the current board would be a catastrophe for the sport, is being driven by SPARC, in part in response to what has been said on Swimwatch about SPARC as the power broker in the current crisis. SPARC will not have anticipated the groundswell of negativity towards them that has come out of Swimwatch, and from the side of the eight regions to a lesser extent, since the delivery of the regions’ ultimatum.

    McDonald’s (sudden) direct involvement in SNZ management/governance matters is evidence of what SPARC wants – their use of McDonald is to try to preserve the status quo.

    The regions’ letter AND Swimwatch has identified a crisis of confidence.Swimwatch has identified that as coming from the unresponsiveness of the board and the two SPARC board advisors, to the Ineson report.

    SPARC had to do something when they learned in October 2010 from the swimmers answers to a SPARC questionairre that there were deep-seated, systemic problems in swimmings management and culture. But SPARC hasn’t wanted to follow through since reality became public knowledge in June. WHY – read my earlier posts!

    Any responsible organisation facing the messages delivered by an Ïneson Report would have no qualms about removing its CEO and would see the need to exit (or at least severely truncate the ongoing involvement of) the leader of the HPC. SPARC lost its bottle when they saw the ramifications of the Ineson Report. Butler’s group – the claytons remedy – comprising SPARC’s people and two existing board members – would ensure that minimal change would occur. See my earlier posts.

    The regions are insisting on change – significant change – rightly so. On the other hand SPARC does not want to work with unknown, untested people, and so they may offer Murray as the sacrificial lamb…so as to leave the incumbents on the board and retain McDonald’s and Cull’s influence.

    BUT that’s not good enough for the 8 regions and the Assn, is it?
    Is this a workable solution then? Not in any order…
    1. McDonald goes – (off to ädvise”some other group(s) but not swimming, given how he has conducted himself lately and given that he misread the imperative for change.)
    2. Murray goes. Bronwen Radford is voted in as the replacement board member, on the undertanding that she is to become the new chair of SNZ.
    3. By negotiation, one other existing board member goes too and another new blood – someone Bronwen Radford can work with – goes in. Probably Ross Butler has to go…because he was responsible for all matters of governance at board level in connection with the board’s unwillingness to act when it was known by the board how bad things were. See detail of Ineson and see stories and posts on Swimwatch.
    4. As part of an overall “deal” the two existing board-appointed directors agree to stay on for three months only then go. Their replacements would be selected by the new board BUT also it would be agreed that SPARC is to approve them both (and SPARC would be entitled to veto one or both new “independents” if seen as unsuitable by SPARC.
    5. As part of the overall deal two other changes occur immediately. The current CEO is removed – either by restructuring the senior mangement team or paying him off – and Jan Cameron is required to reduce her ongoing involvement by becoming a part-time consultant or like, to avoid her continued level of input into high performance areas. As part of that arrangement her contract would end in August next year. This item 5 – I have suggested on here in another comment that had the existing board taken this step in June 2011, the board may have been able to survive. (Too late now.)

  • Tom

    Stevie, you’re reading of the current status quo is correct.

    I have never met Kerry McDonald. However, I did have limited dealings with him during the Project Groundswell consultation. I have a measure of respect for the man. He has been incredibly successful in business (yes, there are legitimate criticisms to me made of his tenure at BNZ, however this isn’t the forum for that). However, that he has been successful in business is the significant point.

    McDonald is a man used to getting his way. He is not a man you use to consult with volunteers and the needs of the ‘grassroots’ of an organisation. He is a man you use to drive a specific agenda.

    McDonald was used by Surf Lifesaving New Zealand to drive through Project Groundswell, and remove Surf Lifesaving Northern Region as a threat. He is being used by SPARC to reduce the threat of headlines about the board of a tax-payer funded sport being fired for incompetence.

    Kerry McDonald’s mandate is not to act in the best interests of swimming. His mandate is to act in the best interests of SPARC.

  • Chris

    My reading of Kerry McDonald is that he is driving an agenda, but it is his own agenda.

    I do not believe for a minute that it is SPARC policy to interfere in a sports constitutional rights, in fact, they go into paralysis when things start getting stuff, they never see things through, and their instinct is to walk away from conflict (i.e. Ben Fouhy and Canoe NZ debacle). The only time when SPARC have any right to come in and effectively “run” a sport that has been funded is if it is put into administration. That has not happened (although they were clearly signalling their threat when they placed their appointed Board members). So I reckon this is what is happening:

    McDonald and Cull have overstepped the mark, BIG TIME, mainly McDonald, an inveterate bully, used to getting his own way, and used to walking all over any hint of weakness. No surprises then that he has seen this Board as weak so he has decided to drive this through, close it up, get rid of the “stroppy” regions, and hand a nice happy clappy sport back to the Minister.

    PROBLEM IS, as you Tom quite rightly point out, the biggest mistake in sport is to try and treat it like a corporation where ownership and control is “top down”, whereas in amateur sport (and swimming is a prime example), ownership and control is “bottom up”. The grassroots and regions are the constitutional owners of SNZ and all that is happening is the owners have decided they have had enough and are claiming back their sport.

    I reckon because SPARC cannot publicly contradict or criticise McDonald, they are running scared. They’ve spent a ridiculous amount of money and political clout to commission the Ineson Report and I have no doubt they knew what the findings would be. They expected the Board to act on those recommendations, but because they didn’t, they’ve gone “Geez, we can’t believe no one has resigned”. Enter McDonald on a power trip, but who has seriously miscalculated.

    I would not be surprised if McDonald’s behaviour becomes an agenda item in the next SPARC Board meeting.

  • Tom

    Chris, you’re correct. Think what you will about Kerry McDonald, he’s a highly intelligent man. On his first dealings with Murray Coulter, he would have realised the chairman is out of his depth.

    McDonald likes to lead. He will know that to protect SPARC’s reputation in this election year, he will effectively have to step in as chairman of the board. He will also know a new board with a fresh mandate poses a threat, and will try to prevent this from occurring.

    That McDonald’s behaviour is contradicting the head of SPARC’s position on Swimming New Zealand, and potentially creating further issues, is an interesting development. I’m curious as to how it plays out.