Smith Nick: State-Owned Enterprises and Crown Entities (Protecting New Zealand’s Strategic Assets) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Smith Nick: State-Owned Enterprises and Crown Entities (Protecting New Zealand’s Strategic Assets) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 29 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4896. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH (National—Nelson) 
: 
 I would like to begin by reminding Mr Andrew Williams who just made that contribution that his much-admired leader Winston Peters was the champion of selling assets when he was the Treasurer in the late 1990s. His signature is actually on the documents that enabled the Government to sell its shares in Auckland International Airport. Just for the record and for Mr Andrew Williams I would like to say that at the time Mr Winston Peters the leader of New Zealand First said that the sale of shares in the Auckland International Airport was to be celebrated as popular capitalism—popular capitalism. So my challenge to Andrew Williams and to New Zealand First is that it is awful double standards. When Winston Peters is a Minister and a Treasurer he signs documents to enable the quite sensible floating of a very successful company like Auckland International Airport but now that he happens to be in Opposition he sings a very different tune. That just shows not only how shallow the argument is but also how shallow this bill is the State-Owned Enterprises and Crown Entities (Protecting New Zealand’s Strategic Assets) Amendment Bill. 
Let me come to the sponsor of this bill Mr Clayton Cosgrove. I have a very simple question for Mr Cosgrove. Where was he when the previous Labour Government in 2007 sold 49 percent of the shares in the Spring Creek Mine? I have gone back and looked at the Cabinet papers. 
 Clayton Cosgrove was in the Cabinet room when 49 percent a shareholding worth tens of millions of dollars was sold by the previous Labour Government. Did Mr Cosgrove on that occasion say that that sale of shares cannot proceed until such time— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: All it did was delay the closure. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: —as there is a 75 percent majority as proposed by this bill? Of course not. He did not say boo. In fact Mr Mallard is interjecting. Mr Mallard’s signature is on the papers that nailed a sale— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Proud of it. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: —of 49 percent of the shares in Spring Creek Mine. Mr Mallard has just cried out in the House that he is proud of that. So now we know the policy of the Labour Party. When Labour sells shares in State companies it is a good thing. When some other Government sells shares suddenly it becomes a bad thing and that certainly does not stand up to any sort of integrity in terms of policy and history. 
I do want to take it back because in my early days of involvement in politics I remember very well in Christchurch that Clayton Cosgrove was a campaign worker for Mike Moore. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: I was 14 years old. 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Well I was not that much older. But Mr Cosgrove I remember it very well because at that time there was a Labour Government. It was not just selling a little bit of assets. It sold 20 State-owned enterprises which in today’s terms would be worth over $30 billion. And where was Mr Cosgrove? Mr Cosgrove was very strongly supporting those sales. Was he demanding at that time? I will tell you the difference Mr Cosgrove. Let me explain the difference. In 2011 National went to the electorate with a very clear policy around mixed ownership. What was different Mr Cosgrove was that when Labour sold a large number—100 percent—of the shares in a large number of State businesses there was absolutely no mandate at all and that is really the difference. The difference between— 
Andrew Little 
: Why didn’t you buy them back? Why didn’t your Government buy them back? 
Hon Dr NICK SMITH 
: Mr Andrew Little chips in. I would love him to say where he was when he was the Labour Party president and 49 percent of the shares in Spring Creek Mine were sold. Where was Mr Little? Mr Little was silent and that is where—