Ralph Norris' influence over Fletcher Building needs to end

No way should Barbara Chapman be in charge of looking for Ross Taylor's replacement as chief executive of Fletcher Building.

In fact, none of the current directors should be making that decision.

My problem is where to start in outlining the board's manifest failings.

Not only did we get the $180 million in write-offs we were told about last week, we also got another nasty surprise in the decision to write $122 million off the value of Australian business Tradelink.

Why wasn't a potential Tradelink write-down at least flagged last week? Did they just suddenly discover it at yesterday's board meeting?

Chief executive Ross Taylor, who has decided to fall on his sword and take responsibility for this mess, told a media conference that the decision to put Tradelink up for sale led to the need for the write-down “to align its carrying value to what its performance is right now.”

So, does that mean the value of the businesses Fletcher isn't planning to sell can't be relied on? It certainly looks like that to me.