Robertson Grant: Mixed Ownership Model Bill — First Reading 
Robertson Grant: Mixed Ownership Model Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:992] 
GRANT ROBERTSON (Deputy Leader—Labour) 
: 
 This bill the Mixed Ownership Model Bill is a desperate flailing attempt by a Government bereft of ideas on how to grow the economy. The only idea it has is to sell off New Zealanders’ future sell off the assets built up by past generations for future generations sell off our key infrastructure and sell off what New Zealanders already own. That is it from this Government: sell cut and hope. That is the extent of the economic strategy. But we can add one more word to that now: sell cut hope and guess—guess—because the best the Minister of Finance can do is guess at the benefit to New Zealanders. Well the problem is that New Zealanders do not buy it. New Zealanders already own these assets. The everyday New Zealanders whom Mr Ryall speaks of those everyday New Zealanders are worried about paying their power bills not about buying the power company. The kind of everyday New Zealanders Mr Ryall is talking about might be the people he meets in the Northern Club; they are not the people in the “cossie club” they are not the ordinary New Zealanders struggling to make ends meet and being told to buy back what they already own.  
This is short-sighted. It is a sugar-hit economic policy. It is all very well for Mr Key to get unconditional love from Moonbeam but he should not be taking economic advice from her as well. This is without doubt the most short-sighted piece of economic policy we have seen in this House for a long long time. “Mum and dad investors” is a piece of double-speak. There is no doubt in my mind that that phrase has been invented by this Government to try to sell a policy to New Zealanders that New Zealanders know is the wrong thing to do for their future. There is no way this Government can guarantee shares will stay in New Zealand control. We know from the experience of Contact Energy that the number of shareholders within 6 months of Contact Energy being privatised fell by 35000. There is no way this Government can guarantee that New Zealanders will retain control of these assets. These shares will go overseas. New Zealanders will lose control of these assets. New Zealanders know that foreign control of their assets is the wrong thing to do. They have had the experience. The 1990s did teach them that I say to Mr Ryall and they know that foreign control of our assets—foreign control of our core infrastructure—is bad for our economy and it is bad for everybody.  
But what about this as the time to sell these assets? Could there be a worse time to sell these assets? No wonder Bill English has to guess how much New Zealand might benefit from this because he is selling these assets into a world economy where he will get the worst possible price. It makes no economic sense. What we do not know yet is the cost of selling these assets. Who is benefiting from these sales? The lawyers the finance companies—who is benefiting? They are the people who are benefiting from these sales— 
Hon Parekura Horomia 
: Their mates.  
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: The mates of the National Party not the everyday New Zealanders Mr Ryall claims to be representing.  
Hon David Parker 
: The 1 percent. 
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: As Mr Parker says the 1 percent are the people who will benefit from this. They are the New Zealanders who will benefit from having these assets in their hands. Why not have a Government with a vision to actually use these assets to benefit New Zealanders to develop these assets and to make sure that they actually work on our behalf instead of giving up and selling them off because that is the one idea it has got? And New Zealanders understand this: you do not sell the house to pay the mortgage or you do not sell half the house to pay the mortgage because what happens the next time there is a debt problem? What else do we sell? Do we sell the other half?  
This is no way to manage an economy it is no way to develop infrastructure and it is an insult to the intelligence of New Zealanders for Mr Ryall to stand up and say “This is how we fund schools and hospitals.” Going right back into the last century and beyond Governments have taken seriously their responsibility to provide schools and hospitals. They are a core part of a Government’s business. It is an insult to this House and to New Zealanders to try to say to them “The only way you’ll get those schools and hospitals is if we hock off the assets.” That is an insult. This Government must have more imagination and ability and actually know that New Zealanders can keep these assets—they can keep these assets—and have the quality schools and hospitals that they deserve.  
The Prime Minister told us there would be an elegant solution around the section 9 of the State-Owned Enterprises Act debate. Well the elegant solution looks a little bit as elegant as Tony Ryall’s shirt and tie combination today. It is a bit of a clash because what has happened is that we have got the old section 9—in this bill section 45Q inserted by clause 16—and added on to the end is “but no one who is a private company will be responsible for that.” That means that Treaty principles apply to 51 percent but not the other half—half of the dam but not the other half of the dam. How does that work? That is far from an elegant solution. I call on the Maori Party in this House today to treat this issue as what it is: an issue of confidence. This is an issue of confidence. This is the major economic matter that it has to decide on in this term and I challenge the Maori Party. Its members know that this is wrong. They want to vote against it but they want to stay inside the coalition. My challenge to them today is to have the courage of their principles and convictions and walk away—walk away today.  
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (H V Ross Robertson) 
: Order! The member must not challenge the courage.  
GRANT ROBERTSON 
: I also challenge Peter Dunne because that is the vote. It is 61 to 60; Peter Dunne’s vote is the one that will carry this. The people of Ohariu will tell this Minister and this member time and time again over the next months that they do not want these assets sold. Mr Dunne is the man who can stop this. He can make this the exclamation mark at the end of his political career make it worth something and say no to the sale of these assets. It is one vote and if that side of the House is claiming a mandate every single survey around asset sales says New Zealanders do not want them. Seventy-five percent of people surveyed in the New Zealand Values Survey said they do not want assets sold. There is no mandate. Every member on that side of the House went to election meetings and they know what New Zealanders think. They know New Zealanders do not want these assets sold. What they want is a Government that has actually got some vision to grow the economy instead of thinking that it is sell cut hope and guess because that is the best that it can do.  
The other thing we need to make sure we are very clear on here is what else is lost in this bill. The social responsibility clauses that have guided State-owned enterprises are out the door. There will be no sense of that and if New Zealanders know one thing they know this: the one sure outcome of selling these assets will be that power prices will rise. That is the one sure outcome: that power prices will rise. Mr Coleman is questioning that. Power prices will rise. That is the outcome of this. I do not care about whatever past record Mr Coleman wants to talk about. Will power prices rise? If he can guarantee they will not he will satisfy New Zealanders but they know they will. They know that this will affect them in their hip pocket. It will affect future generations.  
This is actually an issue of sovereignty as Mr Ryall said but he got it completely round the wrong way. The issue of sovereignty here is one about New Zealanders controlling our future and New Zealanders having an ability to control their own lives not to see those core assets sold off overseas. There will be a petition for a citizens initiated referendum on this matter. It will go around the country and I can guarantee that every single member on the other side of the House will see people gathering these signatures. That referendum will occur and it will tell the National Party that New Zealanders do not support the sale of these assets. There is a core message in this today and that is that New Zealanders are proud of what has been built up in the past. They want to retain ownership of their own future. They know that this is a sugar hit a one-off hit for the economy that cannot be repeated and that if we try to buy those assets back it will cost us time and time again. The message from this side of the House is that New Zealanders already own these assets Mr Ryall; they are not yours to sell.