Phil Goff
Labour Leader

31 August 2011

National continues to try and con Kiwis on asset sales

National’s announcement on State Asset Sales is a shallow con job that bears little resemblance to what would happen if our assets are sold off, Labour Leader Phil Goff says.

“National doesn’t seem to understand that once shares are sold they are gone forever. There is no way to guarantee that they will remain in Kiwi hands,” Phil Goff said.

“Bill English and Tony Ryall clearly don’t understand what it means to sell something, if they think they will have any control over what happens to shares once they are floated on the market.

“National’s claim that shares will stay in New Zealand because Kiwis are ‘hungry’ to invest and that because of this dividends will remain in this country are simply not credible.

“The cost of living is spiralling out of control, while wages are barely growing. Kiwis are struggling to make ends meet let alone having additional money to spend on the stock market.

“It is once again clear that National is simply hoping that people don’t look too closely at the details of their announcement.

“The recent release of the annual reports reveal that the companies that National wants to sell returned $900 million in dividends to Kiwi taxpayers in the 2011 financial year.

“Under National’s plans much of those dividends will in the future end up overseas.

“National’s policy will see hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends heading off-shore. That is simply economic madness.

“Labour’s economic policy will ensure a strong export lead growth economy and allow us to keep our assets at the same time,” Phil Goff said.

ENDS

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