Cosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is subject to correctionCosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 19 November 2013. Volume:695;Page:15072. Text is subject to correction.]8.Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour) to theMinister of Finance: When if at all did Cabinet approve the timing of the Air New Zealand sell-down and what directions did Cabinet give the shareholding Ministers?Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Associate Minister of Finance) on behalf of theMinister of Finance: In December 2011 Cabinet confirmed that the Crown would sell down its shareholding as part of the mixed-ownership programme announced nearly a year earlier. On 2 September 2013 Cabinet authorised joint Ministers comprising the Prime Minister the Minister of Finance Associate Minister of Finance Steven Joyce and the Minister for State Owned Enterprises to determine the final timing of the transaction. Under this authorisation the joint Ministers made the final decision on the timing of the transaction on Friday 15 November subject to the appointment of joint lead managers and determining the transaction’s structure. The Air New Zealand sell-down occurred on 19 November and was highly successful.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Why was formal approval not sought for the timing of the transaction worth hundreds of millions of dollars or was it a case of Mr English having a drink on the Friday night and deciding to flog them off? [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am going to ask the member to ask that member again but the last bit just does not help the order of the House. If we could just have the factual question I think the member stands a far better chance of getting an answer.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: To the Minister—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order!Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Sensitive. Why was formal Cabinet approval not sought for the timing of a transaction worth hundreds of millions of dollars or is it the case that Minister English on Friday night decided to flog the shares off?Mr SPEAKER: It is not greatly improved by that but anyway the Hon Steven Joyce.Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The member was simply not listening to the first answer to the question. I invite him to do so because the idea of having supplementary questions is that you expand on the answer to the first question. The key point is that Cabinet approved the transaction taking place but the timing of the transaction was actually delegated to joint Ministers: the Prime Minister the Minister of Finance the Associate Minister of Finance Steven Joyce and the Minister for State Owned Enterprises. Ministers took the decision after 5 p.m. on the Friday to make the decision to proceed.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Given his answer yesterday in this House that he would not have to go “crawling to foreign bankers” to fund debt could he please explain whom he is borrowing the current $424 million per month from?Mr SPEAKER: Hon Steven Joyce in so far as it is related to the Minister of Finance.Hon STEVEN JOYCE: I look at the primary question—and I appreciate that the member has run out of supplementary questions because I have answered the question—and actually the debt question has got nothing to do with the primary question.Mr SPEAKER: And I am certainly going to accept that as an answer.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: With regard to the Air New Zealand sell-down has he seen the statement of a sharebroker published in the ChristchurchPress today who describes the sell-down of Air New Zealand as “What another bloody debacle”—and forgive the invective Mr Speaker but it is a direct quote—if so does he now acknowledge that along with Kiwi mums and dads the big end of town also believes that he has stuffed this transaction up?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The Labour Party—the party of stockbrokers! That is what we have now. Again the member needs to make up his mind. Either we are making too much money or not enough money but he needs to stop actually arguing it around. The reason I am answering in this way Mr Speaker is that you heard the question.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: How will he make up the shortfall of his asset sales target? Will he forgo building the mythical schools and hospitals he promised or will he go “crawling to foreign bankers” to borrow the money to make up the shortfall?Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The reality is the Government has a net Crown debt of $60 billion. If we did not do these sales that number would be $4 billion higher now and then $5 billion higher. The question actually for the Opposition is: are those members promising to borrow the money to buy the shares back? If not the rest of it is all wind.