Chris Hipkins
12 October 2011

Smith confirms wholesale privatisation of ACC

It’s now abundantly clear that wholesale privatisation is the National Party’s true agenda when it comes to accident compensation, Labour’s ACC spokesperson Chris Hipkins says.

“In the NZ Herald this morning Nick Smith confirmed that if a National-led government is re-elected, their ACC privatisation agenda will be expanded from only covering workplace injuries to also include injuries sustained in car accidents, around the home, or even on the sports field,” Chris Hipkins says.

“National’s privatisation plans will effectively bring an end to what has been our world-leading system of universal, no-fault, 24/7 cover for accidental injury. Under National, if someone sustains an injury, they can look forward to spending weeks or even months arguing with different insurance providers about who should cover it.

“When politicians from overseas visit New Zealand, two of the things they often remark on with envy are our ACC system and Pharmac. Both are being undermined by this National government.

“It’s still not clear what problem National is trying to fix here. Independent studies have clearly shown that ACC is among the cheapest providers of accidental injury cover in the world. New Zealand employers already pay on average half of what Australian employers pay, yet National wants to replicate the Australian model.

“National’s hollow promise to leave ACC as a competitor in the market doesn’t stack up either. If they convert ACC into a state owned enterprise and force it to pay tax and return a profit, then ACC levies will have to go up. Either way, Kiwis will end up paying more to get less under National.

“The choice for New Zealanders is now crystal clear. If they want to keep our system of universal, no-fault, 24/7 cover for accidental injury, then they will need to vote for a change of government,” Chris Hipkins said.

ENDS

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