Parker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to MembersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParker David: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members[Sitting date: 02 July 2013. Volume:691;Page:11416. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]6.Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour)to theMinister of Finance: Are the proceeds from selling power companies and other assets being used to pay down debt to build schools and hospitals to fund irrigation projects to rebuild Christchurch or to fund Auckland transport projects?Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance):The Government has been clear that the proceeds of the share offer programme will be used to buy a variety of new public assets and will help the Government avoid having to borrow to procure those assets. The Future Investment Fund was outlined in Budget 2012 and further details were provided in Budget 2013. The purpose of that fund is to ensure complete transparency about the spending of the proceeds from asset sales. The Budget confirmed another $1.5 billion of these proceeds will be invested in schools Christchurch hospitals KiwiRail and irrigation projects. However the share offer proceeds are only a proportion of the Government’s overall new capital spending.Hon David Parker: Does he agree with John Key that asset sales are necessary to “avoid a credit downgrade” or does he agree with Tony Ryall that asset sales are necessary to pay down debt or does he agree with another John Key that asset sales would be used to build new schools and hospitals or does he agree with Nathan Guy that money would be used to subsidise irrigation on multimillion-dollar farms or does he agree with Gerry Brownlee that asset sales money be used to rebuild Christchurch or does he agree with yet another John Key that asset sales will fund the Auckland rail link?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes.Hon David Parker: How much funding has already been allocated for spending from asset sales via the Future Investment Fund and how much has actually been raised for the Future Investment Fund from asset sales to date?Hon BILL ENGLISH: The details of that are set out in the Budget but as the member will be aware the Government’s programme hopes to realise between $5 billion and $7 billion which is actually quite a lot of money. I would have to say that that $5 billion to $7 billion is much more useful as cash than it is as 49 percent shares in electricity companies owned by the Government.Hon David Parker: I seek leave to table documents showing that $1.7 billion has so far been raised—Mr SPEAKER: What is the source of the document?Hon David Parker: There is a combination of documents: the National Party manifesto and Treasury documents.Mr SPEAKER: No both are freely available to members if they so want it. Has the member got a supplementary question?Hon David Parker: Yes. Why does he continue to claim asset sales will reduce debt when Treasury—his own department—states that from 2017 the Crown is worse off to the tune of $50 million a year growing to $100 million a year worse off because of asset sales thereafter?Hon BILL ENGLISH: We do not claim it will reduce debt. What we have said it will mean is that the Crown does not have to go and borrow the money from overseas bankers. We have never understood why Labour and the Greens would rather borrow money from offshore bankers than get the money from New Zealanders who want to invest in a large New Zealand company.Hon David Parker: Has he been advised that in January 2011 John Key said the Government needed to sell power companies and other State assets to avoid a credit downgrade; if so is he aware that 8 months later New Zealand was downgraded by both Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings?Hon BILL ENGLISH: Yes I am aware of those things. I am also aware that the sale of the assets means that 49 percent of the ownership has gone largely to New Zealanders but also to some offshore investors. In return for that they have put cash in the Government’s bank account. I know it is profoundly irritating to the Labour Party but we are able to use that cash to buy new public assets. The public is starting to understand that Labour’s arguments against the asset sales were poorly conceived and wrong.