1. Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Which State assets was he referring to yesterday when he said work would begin soon on assessing which, if any of them, would be put up for sale?
Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister) Link to this
I was not referring to any particular State assets but, rather, to the policy. But I can assure the member that they will not include Telecom, the State Insurance Office, the Tourist Hotel Corporation, New Zealand Steel, Petrocorp, the Government Printing Office, or the DFC, because the member has already sold those ones. [ Interruption]
Mr SPEAKERWe will not have this go on across the House. I have called the honourable Leader of the Opposition, and he will be shown some courtesy.
Why even consider selling Kiwibank when 700,000 Kiwis bank with it precisely because it is community and New Zealand - owned, retaining its profits in and for New Zealand, when the private, commercial banks take $2.6 million in private profits and send it overseas?
The Government has given no consideration to selling Kiwibank. What I can say is that the Government is giving consideration to putting more capital into Kiwibank, because the board of Kiwibank wants more capital.
If the National Government is not considering selling Kiwibank, as the Prime Minister has just told us, why did Bill English raise it publicly the day after the Budget, and privately to the National Party conference 2 years ago?
Because when the Minister of Finance goes to a post-Budget function, hundreds and hundreds of people turn up. They ask him questions and seek his advice because they can see from the quality of the Budget the man’s wisdom and knowledge, and if he is asked a straight question he gives a straight answer.
That was half-hearted. Why would he risk Kiwibank shares falling into the hands of overseas investors, and its profits going offshore, when Kiwi mums and dads already own it, and benefit from its profits working for them and for New Zealand?
The member is well and truly ahead of himself. But if the member was so opposed to the Crown owning a majority stake, and thinks the Government should have owned a 100 percent stake, why did the member not buy the rest of Air New Zealand? It was on the stock exchange.
I say to Government backbench members on this occasion that I have called the honourable Leader of the Opposition to ask a supplementary question, and the House wants to hear it.
Hon Rodney HideI raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I agree with you, but the Leader of the Opposition on three occasions has stood up and before asking his question has made a snide comment into the microphone, and I think that is what upsets my colleagues behind me.
I think that is a fair point that the Hon Rodney Hide has made, and I ask the Leader of the Opposition to desist from doing that.
If the Prime Minister is considering “selling shares”, as he quaintly puts it, to mums and dads who are investors in New Zealand, how does he stop those shares being onsold overseas, given New Zealand’s obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services and CER, which require national treatment?
That is a question the Government has not tried to answer because it has not looked at that issue yet, but I can say there are always options. One option to ensure that is of course to make sure that Kiwis have more money—that is one thing the Budget did. Other options are to encourage them to save more—that is another thing the Budget did—and to invest in New Zealand, which is another thing the Budget did.
In assessing which assets the Prime Minister, and the National Government, might put up for sale, has he considered past experience with privatisation, when a private sector board ran Air New Zealand into bankruptcy and private owners asset-stripped KiwiRail and ran it into the ground?
The Leader of the Opposition has a fair point. If one is going to consider these matters, one should definitely seek someone who has had experience. Maybe, just maybe, the Minister of Finance and I should go and have a chat with the Leader of the Opposition, because that is the man who sold Telecom, the State Insurance Office, the Post Office Bank, Air New Zealand, the Tourist Hotel Corporation, New Zealand Steel, Petrocorp, the Government Printing Office, the DFC, the National Film Unit, the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, the Shipping Corporation, New Zealand Liquid Fuel Investment, Maui Gas, SynFuels, forest cutting rights, Health Computing Services, and Communicate New Zealand. If there is ever a man who knows something about privatisation, it is that one.
Although it is interesting to have a history from 20 years ago, I point out to you that the Prime Minister made no effort to answer that question.
Members will cease this interjecting while a point of order is being considered. I say to the Leader of the Opposition that the slight dilemma I have is that he asked the Prime Minister whether he had considered something, and it is that kind of language that then gives the Minister the chance to answer that way. In answer, I think the Minister said he had not considered something but he had considered something else, and that is the dilemma with that kind of question. I realise it is frustrating, but the more precise a question and the less opinion sought, the more help I can be in assisting that members get answers.
Should New Zealanders have as much confidence in the assurances that the Prime Minister is giving around not selling Kiwibank as they had in his promise that “National will not be raising GST.”?
Should New Zealanders have as much confidence in the Prime Minister’s assurances about protecting their interests in Kiwibank as they had in his promise before the election that “National will not be raising GST.”?