Tuesday, 7 June 2011 MEDIA STATEMENT

Asset Sales Is Zombie Economics.

Labour candidate for Otaki Peter Foster likens selling state assets to zombie economics.

Mr Foster says that “selling core, good performing state assets is an idea that has been tried and failed. It’s zombie economics in that it’s a dead idea but is still walking with us with help from National.”

“Putting up GST and borrowing so that lower and middle income earners could fund tax cuts heavily weighted to the rich was wrong. National’s next plan of asset sales is not only wrong it’s ill conceived. Once again it’ll be the better off who benefit at the expense of lower and middle income New Zealanders. This time though it will probably not be the better off in NZ, it will most likely be overseas investors.”

“Bill English’s recent warning that if New Zealanders don’t front up to buy our electricity companies, (that we already own!) then they’ll be sold offshore, is ominous. The assets National wants to sell make us around $700 million dollars each year. The rhetoric has already begun that local mums and dads will be buying these assets, that we’ll still have control and that it makes good economic sense.”

“Every day in the Otaki electorate I’m meeting mums and dads. Most of them are struggling to pay for their groceries. They can’t afford to buy shares in these assets even if they wanted to. I don’t think it makes good economic sense to sell basic infrastructure that’s making good returns for all kiwis. Once they’re sold, they’re gone forever and it is inevitable that electricity prices will rise.”

Mr Foster said “Our grandparents and parents dug deep to fund the assets National wants to sell off because they knew, as we all know, that owning our future means owning basic NZ infrastructure. Electricity is basic NZ infrastructure. Mr Foster said that, “Labour has promised to stop the sales. I’m proud to be representing Labour within this electorate and I aim to represent not just the rich but lower and middle New Zealanders as well.”

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