24 July 2007

Who Will Profit?

New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says New Zealanders need to ask themselves one salient question with regard to the proposed sale of over half of Auckland International Airport, and that is, who will profit.

“The one question we need to ask ourselves is whether New Zealanders or foreigners stand to gain from this proposal,” said Mr Peters.

"The AIAL Board Chairman John Maasland has himself said that Auckland International Airport is the only stand-alone listed asset of its kind in Australasia and is widely recognised as a well managed and highly efficient operation. So why on earth would we want to sell 51% to 60% of its shares to an overseas company?

"It's very hard to believe that New Zealand will see any benefit from this takeover in the long-term.

"Mr Maasland's dubious claims that the agreement would bolster tourism are somewhat unnecessary, given that Tourism NZ recently reported a record number of international visitors this summer. These figures clearly prove that we don't need foreigners telling us how to sell New Zealand.

"New Zealand First also understands that as part of the proposal, preference will be given to the Emirates airline. How does this benefit the taxpayer owned Air New Zealand?

"What this proposal really means for New Zealanders is yet one more move towards making another country rich off one of our key assets," said Mr Peters.

ENDS

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