You’d think that when you’re the chairman of one of New Zealand’s biggest homegrown businesses operating in 22 countries, with revenue of $2.6 billion, what you say about the government might be widely reported in the mainstream media. But apparently not if you happen to be praising the new Labour-led administration.

Bruce Plested, chairman of global freight and logistics company Mainfreight, wrote in his company’s 2018 annual report in June: “As a business, we are pleased with the youthfulness and energy of New Zealand’s new government. Given the problems they face, we are impressed with the speed at which they are coming to grips, and we wish them well.