Finance Minister disappointed with RBNZ after details emerge of events leading up to Orr’s departure

Thursday, 24 July 2025

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says she voiced disappointment during a scheduled meeting with the Reserve Bank today over the way it shared information relating to the departure of former Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr.

Willis said she had confidence in Reserve Bank chairperson Neil Quigley.

But she declined to say whether she believed Quigley had misled the public with regard to the circumstances of Orr’s sudden departure from the bank in March, explaining while doing so that she did not want to “create legal or potential financial risk for taxpayers”.

The Treasury confirmed on Thursday morning that Quigley emailed a senior Treasury staff member on February 20 acknowledging Orr had lost his cool with him.

The brief email, released to The Post by the Treasury on Thursday morning stated: “I am sorry Adrian lost his cool with you this afternoon. Your question was not surprising and should have been able to give you a more dispassionate answer [sic].”

The Treasury staffer, principal advisor for commercial and institutional performance Andrew Wood, responded within minutes, expressing his appreciation for the apology.

“Thanks, Neil. I appreciate your email. I also realise this is a difficult process and emotions can run high.

“We really appreciate your open communication given the difficulties of this scenario,” he wrote.

The question that led to the flare-up was not made clear in the emails.

However, the exchange occurred during a period when the Reserve Bank was responding to a proposal for steep budget cuts, which would have involved the Treasury’s input.

Willis previously indicated that she was first made aware of the email on Wednesday.

The Reserve Bank has so far refused to comment on a report that Quigley emailed Orr a few days later, setting out a “statement of concerns” about his behaviour over a number of years and asking for a response.

It said yesterday it had no plans to issue further information in relation to the former governor's resignation, beyond that it had previously published.

The former governor, who had a reputation in the role for being charming and humorous, but sometimes forthright and fiery, walked out of the bank on March 5, after what it now appears likely to have been a falling-out with the board.

Quigley said at the time that Orr’s resignation was a “personal decision”.

“I have not been happy with the way that information on this matter has been shared,” Willis said today.

“Today, I had a pre-scheduled meeting with the Reserve Bank. I took the opportunity at the beginning of that meeting to convey my disappointment on the way that this matter has been handled and my expectation that they do better.”

She appeared to voice doubt the bank had complied with the spirit of the Official Information Act in relation to its disclosures.

“There have been times when, via my office, we have asked them whether they are providing the fulsome disclosure that we would expect.

“They have taken — which it is their right to do — their own independent legal advice on that, and they have made their own decisions,” she said.

Willis applauded the Treasury’s decision to release the emails to and from Quigley and Wood.

“I understand they are now giving consideration to releasing the minutes of the final meeting I had with Adrian Orr. Should their legal advice support that, I would support that,” she said.

In April, it emerged that the Reserve Bank’s board had accepted a proposal that would see the bank’s funding cut by about 25%.

Orr made clear that he did not believe the remaining funding would be sufficient for the bank to best meet the board’s strategic goals.

The bank had originally sought just over $1 billion in funding over the next five years, but Willis said in April that “the Treasury advised me that that amount did not represent good value for money”.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described Neil Quigley as governor of the Reserve Bank (amended 9.45am, 24 July 2025).