2 August 2005
NZ First's Part In Selling Assets In The Late 90s
"The NZ First Party's 2005 rhetoric against strategic national asset sales is a rehash of the party's non-negotiable
policy position that it took into the 1996 General Election only to disown after the election," Progressive leader Jim
Anderton said today.
"The only time New Zealand has had a National-led government under MMP is when people elected into Parliament on the NZ
First Party ticket helped to install a National-led government.
"NZ First went into the 1996 election on a platform that promised no state asset sales as 'a non-negotiable principle,'
but when it got into government it did the opposite of what everyone anticipated from its rhetoric," Jim Anderton said.
"What the record shows is that the NZ First Party's 'non-negotiable principles' are worthless," Jim Anderton said.
Pre-1996 election rhetoric (as recorded by the Dominion newspaper 18-9-96)
"We will not contemplate selling state assets to private and foreign hands as National and Labour have done over the
past ten years" ? NZ First Leader in an article headed 'Peters spells out non-negotiable principles'
Treasurer and Deputy PM Peters' (as recorded in Hansard for May 14 1998 Budget Speech on behalf of the National-NZ First
government)
"We have low-returning funds locked up in businesses like airports and coal mines which demand future investment from
the taxpayer. Accordingly, we are negotiating with other local government shareholders to divest the Crown's ownership
interest in Auckland International Airport, by way of a public float. The government has also started the process of
divesting its coal mining State Owned Enterprise, Solid Energy.
ENDS