4. Hon JIM ANDERTON (Leader—Progressive) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Is it Government policy not to sell State-owned assets in the future?
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
No. Government departments, Crown entities, and State-owned enterprises regularly buy and sell assets, and that practice will continue. As Trevor Mallard said: “Every State-owned enterprise sells non-core assets, many of them on a weekly basis.”
Is it the policy of the Prime Minister and his Government to keep this pledge he made in the Dominion Post on October 22, 2008, 2 weeks before the general election, in answer to a reader’s written question: “I am ruling out selling Kiwibank at any point in the future.”?
Our policy is not to sell any assets in this term. What happens in future terms is something we will have to consider as we go into future elections.
Is the Prime Minister bound by the pledge he made during the TV3 interview in the leaders’ debate on November 3, 2008, 5 days before the general election, that “National would not sell Kiwibank at any stage, ever. We have ruled it out.”?
The Government’s policy is that we will not be selling assets in this term. We will come back in the second term with our policy then.
Can the Prime Minister tell the House whether the current policy of the Government is the same as the policy of November 3, 2008—I am sorry, Mr Speaker. That was the question I have just asked.
Mr SPEAKERWe will not have the member using his open microphone, and members need to be reasonable with their interjections.
At least they are my own questions. When the Prime Minister says “We’ll let you know about the sale of State-owned assets if the National Party is elected for a second term.”, does he accept that this is a different position from his repeated pledges before the last election that he would never sell Kiwibank, ever?