David Shearer
Labour Leader
23 July 2012
National’s billion dollar bonus stings taxpayers
Kiwi mum and dad taxpayers will potentially miss out on $1 billion dollars in revenue lost from the asset sales to pay
for John Key’s bonus scheme for private investors, says Labour Leader David Shearer.
“John Key is refusing to say how the so-called loyalty scheme will work and how much it will cost. We’re seeing great
big chunks of the promised windfall from this venture eaten into by brokerage fees, PR and advertising campaigns and now
the bonus scheme. How many shares will have to be held back to cover that scheme?
“Treasury said last year that, for example, keeping back an additional 9% of the companies – selling down 40% rather than 49% - would cost
around $1.3 billion in foregone revenue. It is Kiwi taxpayers who will have to cover the cost of the lost revenue to pay
for a bonus scheme that benefits private investors. That is simply not fair.
“John Key is desperate to live up to his promise that 85-90% of the shares will end up in the hands of ‘Kiwi mums and
dads’. That’s why he’s come up with his so-called loyalty scheme. But he’s not building up long-term ownership of shares
as he claims, he’s just enticing people to hold onto the shares until after the next election, when with the extra
loyalty shares they’ll be able to sell off even more to corporate and foreign buyers.
“It’s just another dodgy deal that will see taxpayers lose out in the end. John Key should be honest with New Zealanders
and admit that these valuable assets will bring in less than he promised and that’s not in our best interests,” said
David Shearer.
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ENDS