6. Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Labour—New Lynn) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
Does he agree that, under his plan to sell $6.8 billion worth of State-owned assets, each of the 1.6 million kiwi households would have to pay over $4,000 to keep their share in these assets that they already own?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
No, but the Government remains keen to move some of these assets into community ownership.
Mr SPEAKERHon David Cunliffe Link to this
If Kiwi households cannot afford to spend more than $4,000 each on paying for assets they already own, would he sell those shares offshore instead, as Treasury foreshadowed when it said that “significant participation by foreign investors would be essential”?
Quite a number of households will decide that they can participate if the price is right. A number of organisations will also be purchasing on their behalf. For instance, their KiwiSaver funds—and 1.7 million New Zealanders are members—are quite likely to be buying these shares on behalf of New Zealanders who have decided to save for their future.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
Has the Minister seen the various polls that show that New Zealanders oppose State asset sales by a majority of two to one; if so, and if he genuinely believes that the election will be the test of his mandate to sell public assets, why is he already employing staff to begin the sale process?
If polls were a measure of policy success, then the Labour Party clearly would have some way to go. The Government has signalled its intent, it is putting its proposals to the public in an absolutely transparent way, and if it obtains a mandate in the general election, it will proceed with the partial sales of some assets.
Chris TremainI expect we will get the same benefits as Air New Zealand does from the Labour Government having set Air New Zealand up under the mixed-ownership model. It will deepen local capital markets; it will give a wide range of New Zealand investors, including Kiwi mums and dads, KiwiSaver funds, the superannuation fund, ACC, and other local investors, better investment opportunities; and it will give the companies themselves wider access to capital to expand and grow, rather than simply relying on the Crown. It will also help the Crown to lower its debt, and improve cash-flow back to the shareholder, by selling assets whose holding cost is more than twice the dividends that they deliver.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
If the Minister is such a late convert to transparency, will his Government be adopting as a Government bill my colleague Clayton Cosgrove’s member’s bill that would ensure that Kiwi families have the opportunity to vote in a referendum before any State-owned enterprises could be put up for sale?
Well, that bill will not be debated by this Parliament, because the Labour Party is totally obsessed with stopping voluntary student union membership. Everyone knows that is a stunt. Labour members will filibuster the student bill until the end of this term, and that bill will never be debated. That is how we know that Labour is more serious about voluntary student union membership than it is about State-owned enterprise sales.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek your advice on whether the Minister actually answered the question, because the question asked whether he would consider adopting it as a Government bill, in which case it would have nothing to do with the order of business on members’ day.
Hon David Cunliffe Link to this
If his Government will not let New Zealanders have a referendum on his plan to sell their assets, can he confirm that the only way New Zealanders can stop asset sales is to vote his party out of office on 26 November?