“Taxpayers are losing money on the government’s asset sheet, and it’s time to ask serious questions about what assets the government actually needs to own,” says ACT Finance spokesperson Todd Stephenson in response to the release of The People’s Portfolio, a New Zealand Initiative report.

“The government owns $571 billion in assets and nets just $2.2 billion in dividends and rents. That pitiful return becomes a loss once you consider the interest cost of borrowing to fund those assets.

“We’ve got $258 million tied up in TVNZ. Would this be better off invested in flood protection?

“We’ve got $1 billion tied up in New Zealand Post. Would this be better off invested in hospitals?

“We’ve got $2 billion tied up in Landcorp. Would this be better off invested to build new roads?

“We’ve got $13.5 billion tied up in Meridian. Would this be better off invested in Defence?

“Of course, we could simply sell assets to pay off debt. We’re spending more on servicing the interest on government debt than we are on the entire Police force. If a household was struggling to pay its bills after mortgage costs, it would be sensible for them to pull money out of Sharesies, or to sell their third car to pay off their debt. That’s what the Government needs to consider now.

“We all know that in strategic areas like defence, the government needs to invest in new assets. The question is whether we should fund this by lumping future generations with debt, or whether it would be more responsible to fund this – at least in part – by selling assets the government doesn’t need to own.

“In other areas, such as roads and hospitals, the government mightn’t even need to own the new assets. ACT’s Simon Court is advancing public-private partnerships which allow private operators to put their own money into infrastructure projects, freeing up the government to invest in the things that only government can do.”

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