Robson Matt: General Debates 
Robson Matt: General Debates 
[Volume:616;Page:11926] 
Hon MATT ROBSON (Deputy Leader—Progressive) 
: 
 On  
Holmes 
 last night National’s leader refused to stand by Kiwibank when he was asked whether it was really true that a National Government would sell it off. But that is not all he has refused to stand by. He has indicated clearly that he will not stand by the nuclear-free policy. In fact to a visiting group of United States senators recently he said that if it were up to him we would be free of the nuclear policy before lunchtime. If that is the entrée—a dish of weapons of mass destruction—I shudder to think what the main meal will be but I think we have some idea. 
The main meal will include going into military adventures based on lies like the war in Iraq. It will also mean telling all those under 50 that he has no confidence in the economic performance under National and that those under 50 will not have a guaranteed superannuation scheme. That is the main meal; let us hope we never get anywhere near it. It is certainly not served by a restaurant that I think New Zealanders want to go to—overseas-owned or New Zealand - owned. 
Dr Brash has indicated that he personally cannot see the value of Kiwibank but that his caucus has not made a decision. I think it has. He said: “I regard the banking sector in New Zealand as very very competitive. I’m not at all sure the Kiwibank is making a major impact on that and if that’s the case we should sell it.” That is what he said last night. They are not the words one would expect from a straight talker; they are the weasel words we got from Roger Douglas and Ruth Richardson in the 1980s and 1990s as they sold off everything from Telecom and Air New Zealand to the Bank of New Zealand and all the other strategic assets. That sell-off is back on the menu under Don Brash. 
We are being asked to believe that the former central bank governor who registered Kiwibank as a bank is not sure what he would do about the problem of Kiwibank. It is a problem for National because Kiwibank is so much more successful than envisaged in the business plan. It is a problem because it is owned by all New Zealanders—not just a select bunch of foreign investors. It is a big problem for National because it wants to sell the bank to Australian financiers—and I have nothing against Australians—despite the bank’s tremendous success in the regions where it is a lifeline to communities that were ignored and abandoned by the big Australian banks until Kiwibank’s arrival. The quarter of a million New Zealanders who rushed to join Kiwibank deserve a straight answer to a simple question put to the National leader: will he sell? Yes he will. 
Late last year the Opposition feigned to be up in arms about the sale of the National Bank to one of the four Australian banks that dominate our banking system. It was an outrage they said that our banking system was now totally dominated by banks from Australia and they demanded Government action. They were right to say at the time that no other developed country has so much of its financial system owned off shore and so much of its banking system exposed to the fate of the financial system of one foreign nation. Yet National members expect everyone to believe they do not know what they will do about Kiwibank because they have not yet thought about it. If National is serious about leading the country it had better start thinking about issues that confront Governments every minute and every second of the day. 
I do not particularly want to be unkind but Dr Brash would have to have lost all his senses to believe that Kiwibank has not improved competition in the banking system. It is now a perceived electoral gain for National to disenfranchise Maori by abolishing the MMP system and Maori electorate seats. As a similar example of its narrow ideology National is putting ahead of reason the issue of the sale of Kiwibank and further asset sales. That is the beginning. 
The reality is that Kiwibank has had overwhelming support from the public. It has 220000 customers close to a billion dollars worth of home loans and 290 branches around the country. It is well ahead of target.  
Consumer 
 magazine rated Kiwibank the clear best choice for mortgage holders last year. Before Kiwibank New Zealanders were disillusioned with the banking system because it closed down branches and raised their fees. Now the opposite occurs. Foreign-owned banks were taking millions of dollars in banking profits out of the country every year. Kiwibank has kept its money in New Zealand for New Zealanders. The excellent competition provided to New Zealand by Kiwibank benefits everybody—not just Kiwibank customers. It benefits all bank customers who receive lower fees and improved services and it benefits New Zealanders who are keen to see a bank that acts in their interests. 
I challenge Don Brash to debate the benefits of Kiwibank with our Progressive party if he likes in public either in a church— 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Who? 
Hon MATT ROBSON 
: It is known as “Jim’s Bank”; it is not known as “Gerry’s Bank”—I can tell the member that. We can debate in a church a mosque a temple or a secular hall—wherever Don Brash feels comfortable. Jim Anderton will debate “Don’s Bank” versus Kiwibank and we will see whether “Don’s Bank” or “Jim’s Bank” is the winner. 
Kiwibank has made a huge positive impact for all banking customers and Dr Brash’s assertions are simply unsupportable. National’s agenda is to sell Kiwibank. It is not even a secret agenda now; it is an open agenda. National’s agenda is also to have us back under the nuclear umbrella.