7 July 2005
MEDIA RELEASE

Alliance will follow the ARC de-privatisation example

“The Alliance will follow the example of the ARC in central government if elected. We will de-privatise the operation of the railways, and the electricity generation and supply industry,” said Mr Richards. “Telecommunications, transport, energy, and even banking and other financial services, are other key sections of the economy that are all too important to be left in the hands of those whose only concern is the profits they can make,” said the Auckland Regional Alliance Committee (ARAC) chairperson, Len Richards, today.

Mr Richards congratulated the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) and its chair Mike Lee on the successful accomplishment of the undertaking to return the Ports of Auckland to full public ownership.

“It was the Alliance success in the 1991 local body elections, taking control of the ARC, that prevented the full-scale sell-off of the Port at that time. Under the chairmanship of the Alliance’s Bruce Jesson the Auckland Regional Services Trust (ARST) subsequently retained control of the Port despite enormous pressure from politicians, local and central government bureaucrats, and the finance company Fay-Richwhite which was trying to broker the sale,” Richards said.

While he was chairperson of the ARST, Jesson also stopped the privatisation of what was then the Yellow Bus Company and the refuse company. He tells this story in his book “Only Their Purpose is Mad”.

“The Alliance – www.alliance.org.nz – has a proud history of standing up against the privatisation agenda driven by international capital in our country.

“It takes people like Bruce Jesson and Mike Lee to stand firm in the face of all the coercion of the ruling elites of society to stop the madness of rampant capitalism in its tracks. The Alliance calls on all those with a commitment to a just, equitable and truly democratic New Zealand to join us in the fight to emulate the achievements of Jesson and Lee on a national scale. We are the only party standing in the general election on this agenda,” Richards said.

ENDS

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