Bennett David: State-Owned Enterprises Amendment Bill Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bennett David: State-Owned Enterprises Amendment Bill Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Sitting date: 26 June 2012. Volume:681;Page:3310. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 As the last speaker in regard to the State-Owned Enterprises Amendment Bill and the Public Finance (Mixed Ownership Model) Amendment Bill it gives me great pleasure to be in this House today. This is a debate that has changed over the course of the last hour or so in this House. We have seen the debate develop into one of economic management and economic discipline. We have seen a debate around a plan for the future of how we deal with the situation that New Zealand and the rest of the world face. Clearly you have on one side of the House the Opposition which has an economic model that has been unproven and ineffective. On this side of the House you have an economic plan that is about good strong economic management and making the right decisions even though they may be the hard decisions to make. 
When we look at this legislation we all realise the issues involved. There is a lot of tension around the House around this issue and there is a lot of respect for the issues and the arguments that can be made on either side of it. But we have to make the right decision now. These are difficult times and in difficult times we need leadership. This leadership that you are getting here today is one from the Government where we have identified an issue that has gone to the public over the last year. We have looked into that issue and made a hard decision on how we deliver the best economic management for New Zealand going forward. That leadership has to be to follow that decision through. That is hard and it is difficult in any organisation and in any country. Yesterday you saw it in the dairying industry that it had to make a hard decision even though there was a difference of opinion. Sometimes in this role of governing this country we have to make those decisions. 
Energy assets will always demand public attention and they will in the future because we have a growing population and we have a growing world economy that will look at food and energy as major resources going forward. The Government has recognised that with the 51 percent strategic shareholding in these assets. 
We have heard many comments in this House about the political history of asset sales or the mixed-ownership model in New Zealand. We have heard parties say that they have been through that and have learnt their lessons. I do not know whether that is necessarily the case. I see those parties over there using that as a convenient byline at this time. They do not go back and buy back BNZ and Telecom even though they like to use those examples in this House. We need to be realistic about economic conditions in New Zealand and around the world. We as a Government cannot own everything we as a Government cannot control everything and we as a Government cannot do everything. This country relies on a partnership between the Government individuals enterprise and industry. This legislation enables us to bring that partnership in one of our most crucial industries going forward. 
We often hear about the loss of dividends. Well that is not the case. The public out there need to understand that there has been a distinction between capital and income dividends and that you have seen the Opposition using a higher figure to inflate its argument. The returns will still be taxable here and New Zealanders understand this. 
We need a Government that will make the right decisions to invest in our country going forward. This is what you are getting from this Government. We are looking at what are the best ways to manage this economy without raising too much debt and without inflicting an economic management that would kill the growth of the country going forward. If we do not make these decisions now New Zealanders will not have the choice around how those decisions will be made in the future. We need to make those decisions now and this legislation makes those decisions but it also gives flexibility to the Government in how that float process is undertaken. When we look at that float process the Government has made it clear that it wants New Zealanders to be at the front of that queue. We look forward to that progress as we go through the rest of this year. 
This is important legislation. It is not about the rhetoric on both sides. It is about doing the right thing for New Zealand in these difficult times. We are doing that. This is leadership. It is tough but sometimes tough decisions need to be made in the best interests of your country.