Shearer David: General Debate 
Shearer David: General Debate 
[Volume:677;Page:671] 
DAVID SHEARER (Leader of the Opposition) 
: 
 Talk is cheap and that is all it is—it is just talk—because when you look at the figures of what that Minister has been talking about there are 60000 more jobless—60000—and 82000 more are on benefits. The domestic purposes benefit is up. That is the reality of what this Minister is talking about. But do you know something else? A lot of this is just simply a smokescreen this week. All of these reheated cobbled-together welfare changes that have been touted around the country are just a smokescreen. I will tell you what they are a smokescreen for. It is about the economy and where people think the economy should be going. They are worried about what is happening with their assets. They are worried about what is happening to their power companies.  
Last year the Prime Minister told us that those power companies were going to be sold off for $10 billion. This year it was $6.5 billion then it was $6 billion and now you have the Minister of Finance saying that it is a guess and not even a best guess at that. We are selling off our assets and the country knows this. The country is aware of this. We are selling off our best-performing assets at sale prices to overseas investors. They are returning dividends— 
Hon Member 
: That’s not true David. 
DAVID SHEARER 
: They are returning dividends they are efficiently run—very efficiently run—and the only way the overseas buyers will get more money out of these assets is by hiking up power prices. We know that and New Zealanders know that and that is why the party over there is so nervous about talking about asset prices and wants to bring up welfare. Well it might work but underneath it all people are worried about that.  
And if that is not bad enough let us talk about the Crafar farms because the country does not want this Government to sell off our best-performing land to overseas owners. That is what it does not want the Government to do— 
Hon Chester Borrows 
: Why did you sell so much? 
DAVID SHEARER 
: You can interrupt all you like “Mr Crocker” but I can tell you this—I can tell you this. You go and ask people what they want and I will tell you they do not want our land sold off to foreigners when there is no value for New Zealanders in this—no value for New Zealanders. New Zealanders are the best farmers in the world and we are selling off our land—our land—to people who do not know how to farm. The worst thing about this is we are putting Landcorp up our own State-owned asset to help these overseas interests Shanghai Pengxin to get across the line. That is what the Government is doing. It is putting up our Landcorp our State-owned enterprise company to help farm these farms in order for this deal to go through. That is absolute nonsense and the Government knows it and the country can see right through it.  
And if that is not enough we are about to sell off our legislation to allow pokie machines to be increased in the convention centre in Auckland so that Skycity can build a convention centre. Nothing is sacred. Everything in this country is up for sale: our assets our power companies our farmland and now our legislation. We are prepared to sell off legislation to enable Skycity to be able to have more pokie machines in order to build a convention centre. And that is an absolute disgrace. The Government is selling off all of our assets in order to be able to tell this country that we are moving to a brighter future. Well you do not sell your way to a brighter future. You do not sell your way to a brighter future; you develop your economy; you put together an economic plan. But there is no economic plan here. This is about short-term interventions in order to be able to get across the line. Putting up welfare policies in this week when the real issue is about selling our assets does not fool anybody.