Gosche Mark: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Gosche Mark: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:648;Page:17188] 
6.  
Hon MARK GOSCHE (Labour—Maungakiekie) 
 to the  
Minister for ACC 
: What reports has she received on possible changes to the accident compensation scheme? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Defence) 
 on behalf of the  
Minister for ACC 
: The Minister has seen a report that following questions in the House yesterday the National Party was forced to admit that it was planning to open up the accident compensation scheme to private competition a euphemism for privatisation. She has also seen reports from media such as Radio Live and  
Morning Report 
 
that National members have continued to refuse to front up and be open about what their intentions actually are. That is no doubt because of Crosby/Textor’s advice that although Australian insurance businesses might like that policy the New Zealand public certainly will not. She has also seen reports in the  
Dominion Post 
 that New Zealand business—as against Australian business—reactions to National’s proposals are “surprisingly unenthusiastic”. 
Hon Mark Gosche 
: What other reports has the Minister received on reactions to the idea of accident compensation being opened up to private competition? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: There has been a range of reports almost all of them negative about National’s proposed privatisation. For example the convenor of the New Zealand Law Society’s accident compensation committee Don Rennie on  
Breakfast  
this morning said that the proposal would be bad for accident victims and bad for employers. He asked the very good question which National should answer of where if it is bad for accident victims and bad for employers the drive is coming from. Another lawyer John Miller who specialises in accident compensation claims says that National’s plans to restructure the system are “a potential disaster waiting to happen”. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Why should New Zealanders struggling to pay their fuel bills their power bills and their food bills believe this Government has any idea of the budgetary pressures they are facing when the Government has just increased the accident compensation levy on petrol by 2c a litre amounting to a 40 percent increase or an extra cost imposition of $120 million per year; and how does the Government justify increasing the accident compensation levy on petrol from 2.3c a litre in 2003 to 9.3c a litre today? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The average New Zealander is a bit brighter than the member asking the question. New Zealanders have travelled across the Tasman and they know that the levies across the Tasman for the very system National is proposing to adopt are two to three times the level of levies in New Zealand. 
Hon Mark Gosche 
: Can the Minister elaborate on comments made by John Miller as to why such proposals would be a disaster? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: He makes a lot of points and I refer to just three of them. The first point he makes is the obvious one—that insurances companies are out to make a profit; that is their bottom line. He says they want to get that money back to Australia to the shareholders and the quickest way to get the money back is of course to reduce the claims that are accepted. He says that they are interested in the quick and the dirty getting people off the scheme. Now that is good for the insurance companies but very bad for the victims. Secondly he makes the point that I have just made that the Australian experience has been that the costs are much higher than in New Zealand. Thirdly he says that he does not believe that the National Party’s system would result in costs going down but rather going up. He says that although big business might do well out of it the small businesses—the painters the carpenters the motor mechanics etc—are the ones who will find themselves hard hit by the premiums. So I tell Dr Nick Smith that if he is worried about costs he should listen to what the experts say. They say that National’s cost structures would be much higher to the consumers and much worse for the victims. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I seek leave to table the accident compensation levy orders showing that they have increased from 2.3c per litre of gas in 2003 to 9.3c per litre today. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? Yes there is objection. 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: There is another report I should have mentioned so I will seek leave to table it. It is from Alan Clayton an Australian compensation analyst who said that under the National Party’s proposal we would totally lose the range of synergies across various accounts and that would add to our costs. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is no objection. [ 
Interruption 
] There is objection. If members are going to object could they do it quickly please. I know that sometimes members need to consider but it does help.