Goldsmith Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGoldsmith Paul: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 17 April 2014. Volume:698;Page:17438. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to theMinister for State Owned Enterprises: What progress has the Government made on the mixed ownership model programme?Hon TONY RYALL (Minister for State Owned Enterprises): Today’s float of Genesis Energy has brought the Government’s share offer programme to a successful close. The programme has been a real success raising $4.7 billion while retaining the Government’s majority control of these companies. A total of $4.7 billion has been realised and in a world moving to a phase of rising interest rates controlling debt is increasingly important. Controlling debt while providing hundreds of millions for scarce capital for investments into important assets such as Burwood Hospital and Christchurch Hospital has been an important part of the Government’s successful wider economic programme which sees it at the top end of the developed world for actual and forecast GDP and job growth.Paul Goldsmith: How many of the five objects set for the wider share offer programme have been met?Hon TONY RYALL: All of them. The Government has maintained at least 51 percent ownership of all the companies. New Zealanders were at the front of the queue. There were 250000 people who took up shares with 110000 new common shareholder numbers issued. The companies will provide good opportunities for investors. Thefreed-up capital is being used to buy new public assets and the Government is satisfied that industry-specific regulations will continue to protect New Zealand consumers. The Government campaigned up front on this programme and the Opposition did everything it could to sabotage it. But the Government has delivered and New Zealand and our public finances are better off because of this programme.Paul Goldsmith: What other benefits are evident from the Government’s successful completion of the share float programme?Hon TONY RYALL: Apart from providing hundreds of millions of dollars of scarce capital for hospitals and schools KiwiRail and other vital public assets the Government share offer programme has also been instrumental in deepening New Zealand’s equity markets. Activity on the New Zealand Exchange in 2013 was at its highest level in over a decade and 63 percent of the capital raised was due to the Government share offer programme. It has also spurred many New Zealanders to invest in the share market for the first time. Around a quarter of a million shareholders purchased shares and around 110000 were issued new common shareholder numbers. This means that tens of thousands of New Zealanders have invested in the stock market for the first time and are now earning dividends from shares.Hon David Parker: How much has he raised from the asset sales process and is this less than the $5 billion to $7 billion he predicted; if so how can he claim that it is a success?Hon TONY RYALL: The Government has raised $4.7 billion worth of cash and when the Government was aiming for $5 billion to $7 billion of shares that included Solid Energy which has been severely affected by the collapse in world coal prices. So actually I think that to get to $4.7 billion with only four of the five companies is a great success and it means that we have money in the bank. Unlike the Opposition we do not have to go to borrow from foreign bankers.Hon David Parker: Supplementary question.Hon Annette King: Where do you borrow from if it’s not from foreign bankers?Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am just waiting for the Hon Annette King.Hon David Parker: Will he apologise to New Zealand taxpayers for the $120 million he gave away from the many to the few by underpricing the Genesis Energy shares that have listed today on top of the hundreds of millions of dollars he has already lost on asset sales and for running Solid Energy into the ground?Hon TONY RYALL: The Government ran a transparent and commercial process when it came to set the price for Genesis Energy. I have to say that the Opposition criticises whatever the price is. Over the last three floats we have had we have heard that we sold them too cheaply we have sold them too dear we have not sold them to the right people and we sold them to too many Kiwi mums and dads. The Opposition seems to have all sorts of positions on this reflecting the fact that it made this the centrepiece of the 2011 election campaign. It failed and New Zealanders have won with $4.7 billion worth of cash.