1. JOHN KEY (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does she have confidence in the Minister of Finance; if so, why?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) Link to this
Yes; because he is a hard-working and conscientious Minister.
Does the Prime Minister agree that the clause drafted by the Minister of Finance last week in relation to strategic assets may in fact not stop the Canada Pension Plan from acquiring 40 percent of Auckland International Airport’s shares, despite the impression to the contrary that she may have portrayed to the public last week?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I would be interested to know whether the member thought that was good or bad, because he has held every position on this issue.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. I asked the Prime Minister a pretty straightforward question; although she might want to indulge herself, I ask you to ask her to answer the question.
Madam SPEAKERRt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
The Order in Council last week, which amended regulation 28 of the Overseas Investment Regulations 2005, added the following words: “whether the overseas investment will or is likely to assist New Zealand to maintain New Zealand control of strategically important infrastructure on sensitive land”. That is the criterion that Ministers will apply to the application, which they will receive advice on. Unlike Mr Key, I do not intend to comment on a specific application.
Sue KedgleyIs the Prime Minister confident that the Minister of Finance has adequately protected our key strategic assets, given that it would be all to easy for a future Government to quietly remove the regulations the Minister of Finance recently introduced to tighten the Overseas Investment Act; and does she therefore agree that it would be wise to entrench this regulation in law?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I would have no confidence about New Zealand holding on to its State-owned assets, or on to strategically important infrastructure, under any National Government. Why are we trying to buy back rail now? Because the National Government sold it lock, stock, and barrel, including the track.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The question was specific—whether the regulations should be entrenched in law—and I would appreciate an answer to that question.
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I am happy to address that part of the question, because my understanding is that what Mr Key now proposes—his policy, after eight goes on what he thought about strategic assets—involves a change in the law. I think it is time he consulted Mr Groser on what that might mean for New Zealand’s international obligations.
If the Prime Minister, as she stated before, is not prepared to comment on the Canadian pension plan bid, can she just answer why in fact she did comment last week, when she said she had no personal enthusiasm for it?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I said I had no enthusiasm for New Zealand losing control of that very important piece of strategic infrastructure, and, further, I am not so economically illiterate as the member to think that one has to get 51 percent in order to get control.
Is she confident of her Minister of Finance’s commitment to protect New Zealand’s strategic assets, given his reluctance to state what those assets actually are, and does she agree that what we need is a clear list of strategic assets that should be kept in New Zealand control, set out in an appendix to the Overseas Investment Act, as I had outlined in a member’s bill, which the National Party did not allow me to introduce last year?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I am sure any foreign investors would make themselves conversant with the schedule of the Act, and it is schedule 1, which outlines precisely what falls into the sensitive land category.
Does the Prime Minister agree with the statement from Michael Cullen, made today, when he said: “It’s now for the two Ministers to make a decision, and obviously other Ministers should not be commenting or it might be seen to be influencing that decision.”, and if she does agree with that comment made by Michael Cullen, why did she comment last week and potentially influence the decision?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
My comment last week was about my view, not Mr Key’s view, that foreign control by a single company is not desirable. Mr Key cannot work out where he stands; he has had at least eight positions.
Can the Prime Minister confirm that in fact her office has received advice suggesting that the Prime Minister may well have breached, with her comments last week, the securities legislation, and in fear of making the situation even more compounding, given her track record with Air New Zealand, she is now taking the Minister of Finance’s advice to shut up?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
All I can confirm is that no such advice has been received, because no such infringement has occurred. If anyone ought to be worried about what he or she said, it is that member with his eight different positions.
If the Prime Minister is not concerned that she may have breached the securities legislation, why has she changed her position this week from that of last week; is it not a fact of life that she did not actually know she was in breach of the legislation last week, and now she is worried about it?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
No comment of any detail has been made by me about this application; nor will it be.
Why did her Government seek to change the criteria in relation to the bid for Auckland airport by the Canadian pension plan, a minority bid with lower voting rights, when, 8 months earlier, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise came in with a controlling majority bid—is the reason she did not act 8 months ago, but her Government is trying to act now, that 8 months ago it was not so far behind in the polls, and that the attitude now is to hell with the confidence in the New Zealand markets and to hell with the savings of New Zealanders; it is whatever it takes to try to prop up what we now know is a dying Labour Government?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
My understanding is that no application to the Government was received from the Dubai company. What I do know is that the Leader of the Opposition does not give a damn who has control of Auckland International Airport.