The ACC board has been purged of members who would resist privatisation and the winding back of its accident coverage, Labour MP David Parker said today.
ACC Minister Nick Smith today appointed four new members to the board, to join its new chairman.
Dr Smith dumped Ross Wilson as chairman earlier this month and replaced him with former Ernst & Young chief executive John Judge.
He will be joined by new board members Rob Campbell, Murray Hilder, Jane Huria and John McCliskie. Existing members Peter Neilson, Marie Bismark and Philippa Dunphy remain.
The new members replace Wayne Butson, Sara Lunam, Ngaruma Karaitiana and Don Turkington.
Dr Smith said the changes were part of setting a new direction for ACC "to address the significant and serious deterioration in its financial position".
"My priority has been getting top-flight governance skills with actuarial, cost control and investment management expertise. I have also endeavoured to provide for sufficient continuity to ensure a smooth transition to the Government's new direction."
Mr Parker said Dr Smith had "manufactured a crisis" in the ACC so he could put in a board that would look favourably upon winding back its coverage and preparing it for privatisation.
"You just need to see how the complexion of the board has changed from those people who would have been defending the scope of ACC to those who are less likely to."
Less than a month after National became Government last year, it discovered it had been left with a $1 billion hole in the ACC budget.
Briefings from ACC officials revealed the corporation was seeking $297 million more for the current 2008/2009 financial year and similar figures for coming years.
There was also a need to increase levies to cover costs that were increasing far more than originally forecast.
Dr Smith said those who had been removed had not been unfairly maligned by him.
The board had failed to brief him properly on the problems facing ACC and it had also signed off policies that had but the regime under financial stress.
Dr Smith said he had "great confidence" the new board would get ACC back on a sound footing.
The decision on which board members to remove was made by Mr Judge and Dr Smith said he had "largely" taken his advice.
