Roderick Deane

"The new Forestry Corporation was originally going to start functioning in September 1986, but it was held up by parallel work being done in other parts of the public service. The ideas in Gibbs’ model of a state-owned enterprise, operating under the Companies Act with staff who weren’t civil servants, fed into work also under way at the Treasury, led by Rob Cameron, Graham Scott and other officers, and at the State Services Commission, particularly after Roderick Deane took over as chairman on 1 April 1986.[42](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-num-note-477308-556173400-42) It made sense to handle the state’s other commercial activities — such as electricity, Telecom and State Coal — in the same way.[43](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-num-note-477308-556173400-43) Complicated legislative changes were required, which set back the new dawn until 1 April 1987."

"Gibbs found himself attending meetings of the chairmen of the nine organisations that would become New Zealand’s first state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Roderick Deane hosted these sessions and quickly realised that, handled correctly, Gibbs was a fantastic advocate for ideas. ‘Sometimes,’ Deane says, ‘I’d call him before the meeting of the chairmen and say, “Alan, I know where you stand, but before the end of the meeting you have to help me get to a conclusion,” and he was so powerful that he could bring the others into line.’ Deane also found Gibbs a useful ally to wheel out at critical sessions with his minister, Geoffrey Palmer."

"[1](private://read/01jrsfvkjy84rkprtbz9amfvj8/#rw-ref-note-477273-050103421-1). See M and J Bassett, *Roderick Deane,* p. 190 for background."