Brownlee Gerry: Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill — In Committee 
Brownlee Gerry: Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:622;Page:17904] 
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
: 
 We are debating Part 5 of the Public Finance (State Sector Management) Bill and I want to draw the Committee’s attention to clause 148 “Power to direct Crown agents to give effect to government policy”. This is where Helen Clark picks up the phone rings Bill Ralston and says: “I think Judy Bailey should be getting $800000 a year.” And what happens? It is in the headlines the day after. 
This is an interesting clause. I do not know whether the Minister is able to tell us whether it is new or whether it has been in legislation for some time. If it has been in legislation for some time then electricity consumers in this country would have to wonder why their power bills over this past winter were so big. The State still owns 85 percent of the electricity industry. The State returns enormous profits to the Government coffers—all those electricity bills helping to build up the almost $7 billion surplus that the Government currently says is so small it is unable to give any relief to taxpayers. That surplus comes from things like big electricity bills. 
Then of course is the issue we have seen in the last couple of days where the Government has decided to apply a new tax to oil and other fossil fuels so we can have a guaranteed supply. I would have thought that the Minister when he was alerted in October 2002 that New Zealand was facing a crisis in its oil supply—in other words our 90-day stocks were well below that level at that time and continued to be all of that time—might have said to the bodies responsible: “Let’s get ourselves involved here.” and the ministry could have been directed to ensure that that level of supply was available to the country. 
But this Government is absolutely terrified of the bureaucracy. It knows that the last remaining strong union in this country is to be found in the State sector. So a clause like this one clause 148 is put into the legislation and we know it will have absolutely no effect whatsoever. The Labour Government enacting this legislation will not pick up the phone to tell Mr Ralston to cut the pay rate afforded the country’s most highly paid newsreader. It will not say to electricity companies: “Calm it down fellas calm it down. The people out there who actually own you would like to have a better deal during the winter months.” And they will not go to the Ministry of Energy and say: “Get us a 90-day supply and make sure it’s maintained.” 
I want to know from the Minister whether this is new and whether we can expect a lot more Government direction on these matters in the future. I say quickly that the National Party would not operate in that way. We would not want to see taxpayers sold the idea that a television company was of such importance that it had to operate under a charter but then had to maintain its commercial position to such an extent that it had to lead the market in the salaries it pays to its people. We would also want to ask what the point is of the Government having such a huge stake in the electricity industry if New Zealanders have to go cold because they do not have deep enough pockets to pay the bills electricity companies render. 
This bill is very very interesting and Part 5 seems to be the most important part of it. In fact I believe that after this we will begin the debate on the schedules or are the schedules being taken as we go through? 
Simon Power 
: There’s Part 6. 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: I am sorry. We will be back on Monday for Part 6 and I hope I can take call on that part. I know that this legislation is so important that we are having to do it under the cloak of urgency. By the way the Government has had this bill on the Order Paper for—how long? 
Jim Peters 
: 11 months. 
GERRY BROWNLEE 
: This bill has been on the Order Paper for 11 months.