Something new today. I’m starting a regular roundup of the people who shuttle between public office and private influence: lobbyists, former political staffers, former ministers, and the expanding class of insiders who make a living out of having once been on the inside. Lobbyist Watch.
This month has produced plenty to work with. David Seymour’s former chief of staff has moved into supermarket lobbying. Two people with connections to the Free Speech Union have been appointed to regulate doctors. Elsewhere, the “revolving door” has been spinning in both directions.
Most of these movements are lawful. New Zealand has made sure of that by having very few rules.
Conventional political coverage follows ministers and MPs. “Lobbyist Watch” will pay more attention to the people who leave their offices, turn up in lobbying firms, appear on television panels, join public bodies and sometimes move back into government.
The latest staffer to turn big-business lobbyist
Andrew Ketels left the Beehive at the start of this year after a long run as David Seymour’s chief of staff. He had been alongside Seymour through Act’s recovery from near-extinction, the 2023 coalition negotiations and the first two years of government.
This month, as Kate MacNamara reported in the Herald today, Ketels joined corporate-affairs firm Sherson Willis as its head of government relations. The firm’s clients include Foodstuffs North Island. Between leaving Seymour’s office and joining Sherson Willis, he completed a short government relations contract for Woolworths.
The appointment comes as politicians are again considering what to do about the supermarket duopoly. Breaking up the companies is being discussed. So is separating their wholesale and retail operations, forcing access to supply networks and somehow making it possible for a third competitor to survive. Any serious intervention would have enormous financial consequences for Foodstuffs and Woolworths.
Ketels knows how Act and National think, which people matter, and which arguments are likely to get through the door. No confidential briefing needs to change hands for that knowledge to be valuable.
MacNamara called him the “latest political staffer to turn big-business lobbyist”. He is certainly not the first supermarket recruit.
Andrew Kirton, formerly Chris Hipkins’ chief of staff, is now Woolworths’ head of government relations. Before becoming Hipkins’ chief of staff, Kirton worked for Anacta, an Australian government-relations firm engaged by Woolworths. Ellen Read held the Woolworths role before him, having recently left her job as Jacinda Ardern’s deputy chief press secretary. Former National minister Steven Joyce sits on the Foodstuffs North Island board.
Labour, National, Act. The duopoly appears to be shopping across the political spectrum for influence.
Foodstuffs North Island retained Sherson Willis in 2021, after the Commerce Commission released the draft of its grocery market study. The relationship has survived a change of government and several changes of minister.
Danyl McLauchlan’s recent Listener investigation into the supermarket sector filled out the wider picture, reminding us of Guyon Espiner’s RNZ lobbying research. During the Commerce Commission study, Countdown retained the lobbying firm Capital Government Relations. SenateSHJ, a lobbying and public-relations firm with clients in the grocery sector, was also working inside the commission, using its computers and email addresses. SenateSHJ declared a conflict of interest, although the details released under the Official Information Act were redacted.
Foodstuffs and Woolworths still account for about 82% of national grocery sales. The exact effect of any particular lobbyist is almost impossible to establish. The supermarkets plainly believe the investment is worthwhile.
MacNamara also noted today that Ketels is engaged to Stuff political editor Jenna Lynch.
Who really matters
Danyl McLauchlan published another Listener article this month surveying the country’s most effective political operators. He deliberately looked beyond party leaders and senior ministers. The people who deliver political results, he wrote, “aren’t all in Parliament”.
One of his categories was “The Lobbyists”. His entry on Capital Government Relations borrowed an old Bill Hicks joke about voters arguing over whether they prefer the puppet on the left or the puppet on the right while ignoring the person controlling them both – lobbyists.
McLauchlan suggested that this is close to Capital’s business model. The firm was founded by Labour operative Neale Jones, who works alongside former National staffer Ben Thomas and former New Zealand First deputy leader Fletcher Tabuteau.
The joke lands because there is something recognisable in it. A firm able to work across Labour, National and New Zealand First is selling more than policy advice. It offers relationships, political intelligence and an ability to translate a client’s interests into language each party understands.
In his influence map McLauchlan also included environmental campaigners, Rewiring Aotearoa, the Helen Clark Foundation and the business-funded New Zealand Initiative. Quite rightly. Political advocacy is not solely a corporate occupation.
The imbalance lies in the resources available. A community organisation may get a select committee submission or a half-hour meeting with an MP. A supermarket company can employ people who have just left the offices where policy is made, retain an outside lobbying firm and keep its campaign going for years.
Anyone can email a minister. Not everyone can hire the minister’s former chief of staff.
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