199807 – Cockram – Keynote Address – Down the Privatisation Road

I am not an engineer.

I know nothing of signalling.

I know very little about railways.

For some strange reason it appears this makes me the ideal choice to delivery the keynote address to your conference.

Given my very evident shortcomings in your specialist field, why am I here?

That was my first question when I was approached to undertake this task. Three of my colleagues offered possible reasons.

The first suggested that the conference was making an early start and that having me give the keynote address would allow people to arrive late without missing anything of significance.

The second suggested that those delivering the important papers would be nervous about the judgement of their peers, and that having someone get up first and make a complete idiot of himself would give them the confidence of knowing they were going to look good by comparison.

The third, and kinder, colleague suggested the invitation came because many here have either gone through the privatisation process or face heading off down that road very shortly. Because I had been a close observer of the political and social processes which brought about New Zealand’s rail privatisation I might be able to give an external perspective to the issue.

I have chosen to believe the latter explanation.