The first question over David Cunliffe’s CV was about voluntary work. The reference has now been removed.
The second was about claims he’d done consultancy on the formation of Fonterra.
He’s produced a time sheet to confirm that he did work for the company between October 1997 and January 1999.
But Keeping Stock raises a question over that:
. . . we can’t help but wonder; how could Mr Cunliffe’s work in that period be being billed to an entity which didn’t come into existence until October 2001 after legislation was passed by Parliament, and an entity that was only given the name Fonterra on 27 August 2001?
It is possible the name was used long before the company was formed but a name isn’t usually used that early in case a leak spoils the eventual launch.
Even if it was, Matthew Hooton who raised the issue said:
. . . He doesn’t want to get into a prolonged argument with Cunliffe, but said: “I just don’t think that doing a paper on research and development in the dairy industry can be described as helping with the formation of Fonterra.
“He obviously thinks that the paper he wrote … was in some way crucial to the creation of the company but I don’t think it would be a view shared by the industry leaders who lead the creation of Fonterra in 2000/2001.” . . .
It does seem to be gilding the lilly.
But whether or not the claim is justified, Andrea Vance has raised more questions over Cunliffe’s CV, this time about his academic record.
He’s often been credited with a degree from Havard, but that’s not right:
. . . A biography posted on the Labour party website until recently said: “He was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School, where he graduated with a Master of Public Administration.”
The implication from that is that the MPA was from both but:
On Monday the website was refreshed. The biography now reads: “He held a Fulbright Scholarship at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government in 1994-1995, earning a Master of Public Administration.”
His Wikipedia entry still says:
He was a Fulbright Scholar and Kennedy Memorial Fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School in 1994 and 1995, earning a Master of Public Administration.
A Google search came up with several more references which confirmed the belief he graduated from Havard Business School including:
. . . Outside politics, the Harvard business graduate is intensely private, living in a Herne Bay mansion. . . at TV3
And at Facebook:
To connect with David Cunliffe, join Facebook today. Join Log In. David Cunliffe …. School of Government and Harvard Business School, where I graduated with …
And the Vancouver Sun:
Cunliffe is a former diplomat and health minister who has a master’s degree from Harvard Business School.
He has tertiary qualifications in social science and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard Business School.
He was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School, where he graduated with a Master of Public Administration.
All of which confirm the impression he’s not, until now, bothered to correct, that he is a graduate of Harvard Business School.
He isn’t responsible for what other publications say about him, but he must have been responsible for the original entry from which the others were taken.
A CV shouldn’t be ambiguous and whether it was deliberate or intentional Cunliffe’s was.
It’s been corrected but it still leaves a question over why he felt the need to embellish his record.
An employee who did as much would be at risk of losing their job.
If we can’t trust him to tell the truth about himself, can we trust him at all?
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