Bennett David: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBennett David: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 06 April 2016. Volume:712;Page:10230. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]2.DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) to the Minister of Finance: Can he confirm that KiwiBank will remain 100 percent Government owned?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance): Yes. New Zealand Post Chair Sir Michael Cullen today announced a proposal that would see two additional taxpayer-owned shareholders ACC and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund purchase 20 percent and 25 percent of Kiwibank. As these are both Government agencies Government ownership remains at 100 percent.David Seymour: Can the Minister guarantee that the rest of the banking sector will remain 100 percent privately owned?Mr SPEAKER: The Hon Bill English if there is ministerial responsibility.Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes. As we have seen back in the global financial crisis owning a bank can be a bit tricky and when they are very large even the New Zealand Government could not afford to own the other banks.David Bennett: What are some of the potential benefits of the New Zealand Post proposal?Hon BILL ENGLISH: It is a proposal at this stage and final negotiations have yet to be completed. The New Zealand Post board when it approached the Government explained it would give Kiwibank access to extra sources of capital for future growth and deepen the commercial oversight of the bank. The Superannuation Fund and ACC would have an investment in a profitable local company. New Zealand Post would receive a return for the shares and use some of that to repay the debt that it built up supporting Kiwibank’s expansion. Some may be paid to the Government as a special dividend.Hon David Parker: Is the Government willing to implement mechanisms that would prevent the onsale of Kiwibank shares by ACC or the Superannuation Fund to non-public shareholders so as to void today’s step leading to the privatisation of Kiwibank in the future?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes. Part of the transaction is that there will be a right of first refusal which means that when ACC or the Superannuation Fund decides to sell its shares it must first offer them to the Government of the day. I can confirm for the member that the policy of this Government would be that if the shares were offered to this Government we would buy them.Hon David Parker: Will the Government commit to using most of the special dividend that the Government will now be able to get out of New Zealand Post to fund the additional capital that Kiwibank needs to expand or is he running down the Government’s ownership of Kiwibank to fund tax cuts?Hon BILL ENGLISH: We cannot be running down the Government ownership of it because it is 100 percent owned by the Government today and will still be 100 percent owned by the Government after the transaction. With regard to any capital that is actually returned to the Crown we will apply that to the financing of other capital investments which we regard as a higher priority. The owners of Kiwibank—that is New Zealand Post the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and ACC—will fundamentally make the decisions about whether Kiwibank can grow further and how it will capitalise that growth.David Bennett: If the proposal goes ahead how will the Government ensure Kiwibank remains 100 percent Government-owned?Hon BILL ENGLISH: As I have said in answer to the other member’s question the proposal includes a right of first refusal for the Government over any future sale of shares.James Shaw: How can he guarantee that Kiwibank will remain in public ownership when he cannot control who future finance Ministers will be or whether they will choose to buy back the shares?Hon BILL ENGLISH: I would welcome the capacity to control who future finance Ministers will be. But the Greens however cannot contribute to that because they consistently rule themselves out of getting into Government. So that will be a matter for the Government of the day. In the end the guarantee of public ownership of Kiwibank is a matter for the public and the Government of the day on any day.