Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader

3 December 2013

Politician of the Year – More Like Financial Jester of the Year

It’s Christmas time, but according to the Trans-Tasman Political Report it may as well be April Fools, with the naming of Finance Minister Bill English as their Politician of the Year says New Zealand First leader Rt Hon Winston Peters.

The Report said that he has done ‘prodigious work on …money management’. Yet this is the same man that over the last two years has watched over the following:

• South Canterbury Finance government guarantee blow out by over $800 million, or twice the planned taxpayer bailout.

• Giving Rio Tinto $30 million of taxpayer’s money so they can keep operating for a further three years and buy power extremely cheaply. Never mind the other four million New Zealanders that would like to see a cheaper power bill too.

• Being responsible for approving the absolute abomination that is Novopay, with still no solution in sight.

• Gifting Warner Brothers $67 million to make a film that has grossed over $1 billion worldwide, when a loan would have seen the taxpayers advance secured.

• Changed the contract rules that is sending Learning Media Limited into bankruptcy, yet advancing capital to the company to repay one foreign-owned bank creditor in full, never mind the rest.

• Selling off Mighty River Power and Meridian shares at the worst possible time, with all sorts of bells and whistles attached to attract buyers, closely followed by Air New Zealand shares, all of which are going toes up on the market.

• Proposing to ignore the Commerce Commission’s final pricing recommendation for Chorus to lower copper broadband prices and instead arguing for a higher price for copper broadband users.

• In a shoddy tender process, legislated to give Sky City extra pokies, gambling tables and license extensions in return for a convention centre.

“Not only that, but he’s also taken the credit for the best terms of trade that New Zealand has had for 40 years, whilst at the same time ballooning overseas borrowing to record levels.

“We know what we’ll be getting Trans-Tasman for Christmas. A new calendar, so in future they don’t get Christmas and April Fools Day confused”, says Mr Peters.

ENDS

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