Media Release: 28 May 2017

Call for Councillors to resign

Councillors on the Far North District Council and Northland Regional Council who recently adopted agreements to help sell off Northland’s infrastructure, tourism projects and natural resources to Chinese Government owned companies should resign, Democrats for Social Credit Deputy Leader & Finance Spokesman Chris Leitch told a public meeting in Whangarei today.

People across the region should be demanding they scrap the agreements or resign.

They’ve been blinded by the dollar signs dangled in front of them without giving any thought to the wider implications of such a major transfer of regional assets into overseas hands.

International security and policy expert Peter Jennings warned Australian politicians last year they should not be dazzled by Chinese money when selling critical infrastructure, such as ports and electricity networks, and our councillors have fallen into the same trap.

Previous Labour and National governments sold off a raft of state assets to overseas owners and now we have our local councils helping to sell off the region’s assets.

These Chinese Government owned companies are not here out of the kindness of their hearts to help out poor depressed Northland.

They are directly financed by the Chinese central bank, and they’re here to take out more than they put in, as part of China’s One Road One Belt strategy.

Those profits will come out of the pockets of Northlanders and directly contribute to the country’s overseas balance of payments problem, which means we’ll have to export more to pay them.

Instead of using the Chinese central bank to develop the region, councils should be demanding that the government adopt the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund’s 2012 report “The Chicago Plan Revisited” which recommends we use our own central bank to develop the country’s infrastructure.

ENDS

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