One of the more important lessons from the initial US$700 billion bailout rejection in the House of Representatives last week was that the business community doesn’t have unlimited goodwill.

When business people abuse their goodwill, as Wall Street executives have with the American public, then the consequences can be severe.

Telecom, under the stewardship of Chairman Sir Roderick Deane, abused its goodwill with New Zealand politicians and shareholders are now paying a huge price.

Contact Energy, which has its head in the sand as far as shareholders and politicians are concerned, could be heading in the same direction.

The problem with Contact Energy is that it is almost totally insensitive to the interest of outside parties.

The company continues to have Phil Pryke and Tim Saunders on its board when a majority of shareholders do not appear to want them.

Saunders was only re-elected as an independent director at last year’s annual meeting because of the