ENCOUNTER. 29/04/1988

Angela d’Audney presents a programme whereby people pose questions to an invited panel member, watched by a studio audience. The guest tonight is Douglas Myers.

Myers is best know traditionally as a beer baron, apparently they’re now drinking his Steinies from the Outback of Australia to the wilds of Alaska. However, more recently, his association with the New Zealand Business Roundtable has brought him to the public’s attention in quite a different role. The Roundtable gives a whole new meaning to ‘Old Boy’s Network’. It goes far beyond the pressure groups and lobbying. It’s influence comes from a highly complex web of personal and business relationships extending through both the private and state sectors. Its members control billions of dollars of this country’s business. They would be a little difficult to ignore. The Roundtable was established 12 years ago but really came into its own since the advent of this Labour Government, which has clearly been receptive to the Roundtable’s objectives of competition and free enterprise.

Are we looking at an arch rival conspiracy? Or simply a group of businessmen who just want what’s best for them and the country?