On Thursday, anti-privatisation protestors plan to send a message to Luxon and Bishop at the Infrastructure Investment Summit – privatisation is selling us out.

“Successive governments have deliberately underfunded our infrastructure, shifting the costs of inaction onto future generations, and now this government plans to bring multinational corporations in to profit from the public services and infrastructure we all need to thrive,” said Grace Newton, spokesperson for the action.

“Farming out infrastructure development to the private sector lumps substantial costs onto taxpayers, both for funding exorbitant private sector profits, as well as the more expensive cost of private sector borrowing,” said Edward Miller, Researcher at the Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research.

“Infrastructure investors are already lining up for handouts like concessionary tax rates and greater scope to artificially reduce taxable profits. The experience in letting the private sector run our electricity generation sector has shown that cash for shareholders consistently trumps investment in new generating infrastructure for Kiwi households and businesses,” said Miller.

“There is no financial case for PPP’s in New Zealand where the Crown can borrow more cheaply”, said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The Government’s own PPP guidelines state that. We shouldn’t be handing profits to overseas financiers when it comes to building the schools, hospitals, and essential public services Aotearoa needs. We will all pay more in the long-run.”

“This government is cutting key services at a time when the public clearly wants to see the government invest in our future,” noted Newton; Chris Bishop has pulled the handbrake on the construction of state housing at a time when 72% of New Zealanders believe that the government should be building state housing at scale. After a net increase of 145 houses this year, they plan to build net zero state houses for the next 30 years - this is a disaster for our construction industry, as we are already witnessing.

“We are concerned that Chris Bishop is now looking to roll out the red carpet to multinational corporations looking to ‘build to rent’ - a scheme we believe will end up with the amassing massive profits from renters in this country into the pockets of offshore multinationals. It is short-term, reckless economics that will only exacerbate our housing crisis.

“When public services and infrastructure are handed over to private companies, we all lose – it ultimately leads to corporate profits rising while we’re left paying more for lower-quality services,” said Newton.

“People in our communities are already struggling to get by - making tough decisions between turning on the power, paying their rent and putting food on the table. Privatisation means that the services many of us rely on are pulled from our communities so that corporations can profit,” said Agnes Magele, coordinator of Auckland Action Against Poverty

The Sound Off Against Privatisation action will take place on Thursday 13 March, 9am outside Park Hyatt in Tāmaki Makaurau.

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