Cosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Cosgrove Clayton: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 14 February 2013. Volume:687;Page:7872. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
6. 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister for State Owned Enterprises 
: Does he have confidence that the Government’s asset sale programme is on track; if so why? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister for State Owned Enterprises) 
: 
 Yes because it is important that we control our nation’s debt given the world’s intensifying debt crisis. However the member might like to ask me the same question after a certain court ruling comes out. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Why when the chief executive of Contact Energy has announced the sacking of 100 staff because as he stated: “electricity demand remains weak.” is the Government still proposing to sell off at least two State-owned electricity companies this year at the bottom of the market? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Of course the Government is selling a minority stake or looking to sell a minority stake in these businesses. The Government has always made it very clear that we will consider each of those individual sales in light of the market circumstances at the time and the advice that we are receiving from our advisers is to continue preparing for sale. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Given that answer does he stand by the statement he made on the  
Q+A 
 programme on 17 June 2012 that “If the Government doesn’t get a good price the Government isn’t going to sell.” and does he agree with Brian Fallow who said recently: “It is folly to press on full steam ahead with partial privatisation of the State-owned power companies …”? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Yes the Government has always said that all of these decisions will be made in light of market conditions. Certainly the whole market already understands what the likely future demand for electricity in New Zealand is. Our country has been growing in the last 3 or 4 years and it is expected to continue growing. I am optimistic about those prospects. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Will he give an assurance to the employees of Mighty River Power Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy that there will not be significant lay-offs following any partial privatisation of those State-owned electricity companies as has occurred with Contact Energy a former State-owned enterprise which was sold off by a former Government of which he was a member? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: As I am not their employer I cannot give any undertakings in respect of that. But what I can say to that member is that the State-owned electricity power companies will report their half-year results in the very near future and the member may want to pay attention to these results to get an insight into how those companies are performing. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: Does he still have confidence in the Chair of Genesis Energy the Rt Hon Dame Jenny Shipley former National Party Prime Minister given she resigned as a director of Mainzeal Property and Construction just prior to its collapse and further that she has offered no explanation as to her involvement in that collapse but rather has hired former journalist Bill Ralston to act as a spin doctor to manage her reputational risk? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Yes and as the Prime Minister has already noted we have not seen anything that challenges Dame Jenny Shipley’s leadership at Genesis.