27 April 2012

Asset sale petition approved

The Clerk of the House has approved the wording for the petition to get a citizens initiated referendum on asset sales.

The agreed wording is - Do you support the Government selling up to 49 per cent of Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power, Genesis Power, Solid Energy and Air New Zealand?

The petition is being promoted by a coalition of community organisations and political parties. Keep Our Assets will be formally launched on the 10 May 2012, in Wellington.

“I am delighted that the Clerk has approved the wording. Now we can get on with the job of collecting signatures. It’s a big job, and there is no time to waste. Everywhere I go New Zealanders tell me they strongly oppose assets sales. This is their chance to have a say,” Grey Power National President and petition promoter, Roy Reid said today.

“The petition to keep Kiwi assets in Kiwi hands will hit the streets tomorrow at a march in downtown Auckland. New Zealanders rallying behind this petition are standing up for a country they own, not a country that can be sold off to the highest bidder.”

“The approval of the petition comes after a week of submissions which reiterated New Zealanders staunch opposition to the Government’s Mixed Ownership Model Bill. Kiwis know it makes no economic sense to sell our best performing assets. This petition will demonstrate unequivocally that Kiwis are dead against the sell-off.”

“We know from experience that privatisation of electricity companies means higher power bills for ordinary New Zealanders.

“There’s only winners from the sell-off of our assets- are the wealthy foreign buyers and the accountants and consultants clipping the ticket on the sale,” Roy Reid said.

ENDS

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