12 March 2013
Govt must respect Kiwis and hold referendum on asset sales

The Government needs to give those New Zealanders who have taken the time to sign the petition opposing the sale of our state owned assets some respect, Grey Power President and Keep Our Assets spokesperson Roy Reid said today.

The Keep Our Assets coalition which opposes the Government’s plans to sell New Zealanders’ state owned assets have collected 393,000 signatures. The coalition today presented its petition to the Clerk of Parliament triggering a citizens-initiated referendum on the Government's asset sales programme.

“The Keep Our Assets coalition has today presented the biggest ever citizens-initiated referendum petition to the New Zealand Parliament,” said Mr Reid.

“Those in Government should stop making snide remarks regarding bogus signatures.

“Thousands of New Zealanders have given up their free time to go out and collect these signatures and hundreds of thousands more people have signed the Keep Our Assets petition.

“Sadly, the Government is hell-bent on pushing through their assets sales program as fast as possible,” Mr Reid said.

"They should instead take a pause and organise a referendum so that all New Zealanders are able to have their say on this issue.

“Rather than selling off New Zealand’s assets in a fire sale, the Government needs to devote time and resources into organising a referendum that maximises voter turnout.

“The Government must listen to the overwhelming number of New Zealanders opposed to their asset sales plans.

“Having the privilege of the Treasury benches shouldn’t mean ramming through an unpopular asset sales program with a majority of one,” Mr Reid said.

© Scoop Media