Holly Bennett, the kaiwhakahaere or managing director of government relations firm Awhi. Photo: Supplied
One company director says she knows she is breaking the law when she files her annual return with incorrect address information - but it is important to protect her safety.
Proposed company law changes announced on Thursday include introducing the option for company directors not to have their home addresses listed on the Companies Register, and instead use an address such as that of their lawyer and accountant.
The requirement to list directors' residential addresses has been contentious for many years. The requirement was driven by a desire to encourage transparency, but there have been numerous attempts to find alternatives due to safety concerns.
Holly Bennett, the kaiwhakahaere or managing director of government relations firm Awhi, said the Thursday announcement was welcome but overdue.
"Back in 2016 when I was a political adviser I remember advice coming across my desk outlining the very real concerns that directors had about having their residential addresses public. Nine years on what has changed? Nil.
"This is despite many politicians waxing lyrical about understanding it was a concern and saying they will do something about it."
She said she had chosen to file her company's latest annual return with incorrect residential information.
"This is breaching my obligations - so right now, it is fair to say I am in contravention of the law. However, for me, that is a risk that I have considered and willing to take.
"I take it because I see absolutely no valid reason for the state to publish my residential information to all and sundry."
She said she had no problem with providing her address for administrative purposes. Inland Revenue had her correct address, she said, but that was because it would not give it out to other people.
"I work in and around politics and I have very strong views on a range of things that I am not afraid to share. Yet, because I also run a business it means that anyone could turn up at my front door. So it comes down to this: if the state is not going to protect my personal information, I will.
"It's up to the Companies Office now to choose whether or not they will take enforcement action - but had I not come out publicly they would be none the wiser. And that shows why the rules in place around this matter are so impractical."
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced the reforms on Thursday. Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker
But she said, rather than requiring directors to request an alternative to their residential address be displayed, the onus should be on the government to ask whether it needed to make that information available.
"There is no question that directors should be made to supply their residential address to the Companies Office, but do we need to have the Companies Office supply it to the general public? For me the answer is no.
"Perhaps if our 123 MPs were also subject to a public register where their residential addresses were made available to the public, they might begin to understand how invasive and unnecessary this is."
Guy Beatson, the general manager of the Institute of Directors' governance leadership centre, said it had been something the institute had been concerned about for some time.
But he said the pressure on directors had become more acute after the pandemic.
A survey of members produced "horrific" stories, he said, including doctors who were company directors, and those providing psychiatric services, being told by patients that they knew where they lived - as well as home invasions.
He said the change would require work from the Companies Office and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which could take time.
He said it seemed that what the government was proposing was in line with what the institute had suggested.
"Technical stuff being done in parallel will certainly move this forward quite a long way."
