Asset sales could be delayed a year or more

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, August 7th, 2012 - 52 comments
Categories: privatisation, treaty settlements - Tags:

“Unusual and inappropriate” – that’s how the Waitangi Tribunal has described National’s ‘report by August 24th or we’ll ignore you’ ultimatum. Imagine if you or I were party to a court case and tried that! Now, the Tribunal is going to deliver a truncated report before that deadline and the full one in September. This is going to the courts. Injunctions will delay the sale.

National has handled this terribly. In an effort to win back some rednecks by looking tough on Maori, it has acted with appalling bad faith towards the treaty partners and disrespect for the Tribunal. That will all add to the case for injunctions.

The Nats could have settled this at any time. Instead, they have kept on going with their politics of division. And ho that has backfired. By trying to portray the Maori Council as not representative of Maori – another play to the redneck audience, they forced Maori into a single united front.

Now, Key’s strategy just seems to be praying that something will show up. Not only is he going to miss the October/November sale window, I reckon he’ll miss the April/May one as well. Have you ever heard of an issue of this complexity, which will go to the Supreme Court, being settled within six months? And, by then, we’ll be looking at the October/November 2013 window – the same time as the referendum is likely to be held. There might even be injunctions to prevent a sale pre-empting that too.

Key’s whinging now. He says that a delay would cost “a lot of money” in extra interest costs if he has to borrow instead of having the sales revenue. Key needs to go and read his government’s Budget. It shows that the extra interest cost from more government debt is more than offset by the profits that the Government gets to keep by not selling its shares.

52 comments on “Asset sales could be delayed a year or more ”

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  1. Kotahi Tāne Huna 1
    7 August 2012 at 9:11 am

    Four years of planning, all those bribes will have been spent by now. The National Party’s clients will be disappointed.

    Anyone still harbouring illusions that the Christchurch rebuild will be anything but an incompetent mess, take note.

  2. millsy 2
    7 August 2012 at 9:33 am

    Awesome if it would be, but the bad news is that we will have to pay iwi elites through the nose for a dip at the local swimming hole 🙁

    • shorts 2.1
      7 August 2012 at 9:38 am

      rather them iwi elites than a foreign corporation eh millsy…

      or your point is rubbish… take ya pick

      • millsy 2.1.1
        7 August 2012 at 9:41 am

        Water should be owned by the Crown for the benefit of all New Zealanders. Plain and simple. Big Iwi and Big Business can get fucked.

        • Kotahi Tāne Huna 2.1.1.1
          7 August 2012 at 9:56 am

          The Crown disagrees.

          • TT 2.1.1.1.1
            7 August 2012 at 11:36 am

            and Iwi disagree. Water is a taonga and as such belongs to Maori. The crowns pathetic attempts to placate with koha should be firmly rebuffed.

            • vto 2.1.1.1.1.1
              7 August 2012 at 11:45 am

              Well TT, if that is the case that maori own water then it isn’t a sustainable long-lasting position. Like much thrown up by the Treaty the result does not serve New Zealand even moderately well in the long term. Quite why the parties expected such a hastily drawn document to stand the test of time I do not know. The treaty needs re-writing, while still keeping the same similar content. I know even thinking this makes me a racist but if that is the case then that is the case.

              • TT …
                7 August 2012 at 12:00 pm

                It doesn’t make you a racist; it just makes you wrong on this point. Why should Te Tiriti be renegotiated when Pakeha never honoured the original document? It’s time to decolonise tangatawhenua and the lands of Aotearoa. With it will go the evils of western civilisation, in particular it’s capitalist system. Aotearoa is Maori Land, Honour the Treaty, and give Maori sovereignty now.

                http://www.coloursofresistance.org/397/new-wave-old-wave-aotearoa-new-zealands-colonial-continuum/

                “Organisations and movements working for global justice in countries like Aotearoa New Zealand cannot talk of justice, democracy and liberation in a meaningful way until their starting point is the decolonisation of Indigenous Peoples and territories.”

              • marty mars …
                7 August 2012 at 12:32 pm

                Like much thrown up by the Treaty the result does not serve New Zealand even moderately well in the long term.

                There is zero evidence for that. It is just your opinion or can you show the evidence?

                I think you may mean it does not serve YOUR interests – and I have no issue with that because it is probably true.

                • vto …
                  7 August 2012 at 1:31 pm

                  In case it escaped your notice marty, most of the late immigrants to these islands fled the tyranny of birthright privilege and its resultant injustice and inequality because it does not create a healthy society. But it surprises me not that you would tend to avoid that reality as it doesn’t suit your opinions.

                  And TT, aotearoa is not maori land. That is just silly and blinkered. Where is your evidence?

                  • marty mars …
                    7 August 2012 at 1:57 pm

                    so no evidence for your opinion then…

                    Aotearoa is most certainly Māori land – evidence is in front of your eyes if you would care to look. Remember the treaty and all those *pesky* settlements?

                    and your use of ‘late’ implies something. Don’t you think Māori are the indigenous inhabitants of these isles vto?

                    • vto …
                      7 August 2012 at 4:35 pm

                      I just gave you some evidence. Please read more carefully.

                      My right to exist in these lands does not stem from the treaty (other peoples may, that is for them to determine). It is not maori land. It is land that was first, arguably, occupied by maori. First in first served is merely one way of establishing an ownership / place to call home. There are others and I’m sure you are aware of them. The fact that they are not considered indicates a lack of objectivity on your part.

                      And yes late implies that all people here are immigrants, including maori. How is that not right? And why is only grudgingly acknowledged, if at all?

                      You see marty, you and I start out from quite different outlooks and perspectives, which stem from each of our own histories and cultures. How do those two views and outlooks come together and co-exist? Well, I am not sure.

                      The treaty is flawed in its structure and cannot stand the test of time. It needs to adjust as time passes. Tell me marty, if the treaty could be re-written today, what sort of form do you think it would / should take, giving due consideration to the state of the world, its peoples, globalisation and demographics? Picture starting again from scratch… what would it look like?

                    • Kotahi Tāne Huna …
                      7 August 2012 at 4:40 pm

                      vto: Why should Marty have to summarise all the court/tribunal decisions/recommendations that interpret the modern meaning of Te Tiriti? There’s quite a lot of them. What makes you think that a modern re-interpretation would look any different?

                    • vto …
                      7 August 2012 at 4:45 pm

                      Oh hi kotahi. Not a reinterpretation of the treaty, a re-drawing of the treaty. Starting from scratch – everything up for consideration. Clean slate. Able to withstand the rigours of today’s planet, not the instant of history in 1840 and shortly prior.

                    • marty mars …
                      7 August 2012 at 4:58 pm

                      most of the late immigrants to these islands fled the tyranny of birthright privilege and its resultant injustice and inequality because it does not create a healthy society.

                      is not evidence for

                      Like much thrown up by the Treaty the result does not serve New Zealand even moderately well in the long term.

                      but please feel free to enlighten me.

                      It is land that was first, arguably, occupied by maori

                      Really? Arguably? Only by loonies vto or those who would like Māori to fuck up or fuck off which isn’t going to happen, is it?

                      How do those two views and outlooks come together and co-exist?

                      Simple really – you are going to have to adjust your view.

                      As for redoing the treaty – I don’t agree with that idea at all. But imagine if the crown and colonisers had acted honourably and treated Māori with respect and dignity, IMO the country would be a million times better. What has been done cannot be undone, but the objective of making this country better, by respecting Māori as tangata whenua and true partners, can still be achieved. And if those who do not like it jump off the waka we will all be better off.

                    • vto …
                      7 August 2012 at 5:03 pm

                      Ok, I’ll just leave it for now. Two different worlds marty. We are just heading for the same impasse again. All the best.

                    • Kotahi Tāne Huna …
                      7 August 2012 at 5:03 pm

                      I’m not convinced Te Tiriti has any “rigours of today’s planet” that can be defined as anything other than political: ie: the desire of a minority to do away with it in what they perceive as their own self-interest.

                    • marty mars …
                      7 August 2012 at 5:17 pm

                      Fair enough vto.

                      the country I imagine we can be includes you vto.

                    • Matthew Whitehead …
                      7 August 2012 at 7:57 pm

                      If your legal right to be here relies on the current governmental structure of New Zealand in any way, I don’t care how you interpret Te Tiriti, you are reliant upon it for your legal justification to even be a citizen of this country and should show one of our founding constitutional documents a little more respect, sir.

                    • RedLogix …
                      7 August 2012 at 8:32 pm

                      Yes Matthew. Every square mm and all resources in this land, extending out through the entire continental shelf are the absolute property of various iwi.

                      All other later immigrant are mere squatters who will eventually have to pay propert market rent to the rightful owners of Aoteoroa… or find somewhere else to live.

                      Simple

                    • marty mars …
                      8 August 2012 at 11:05 am

                      onya red but it isn’t always about money – that’s a projection.

      • vto 2.1.2
        7 August 2012 at 9:48 am

        But shorts, iwi elites / corporates have shown themselves to act entirely in accordance with typical corporate behaviour. There will be no difference in conduct.

        For me the positive difference in having iwi in a position similar to most corporates is that they are “NZ-owned” and not foreign, which helps to grow our place by continually adding to the base. Unlike corporates which take away from the base.

        • shorts 2.1.2.1
          7 August 2012 at 10:26 am

          one could say if the govt weren’t hell bent on selling these assets we’d not be discussing the ownership of water rights

          saying that I prefer local ownership of strategic assets and the resources they rely on to offshore interests whose only care for those assets is in the paper ($) they can produce

    • mike e 2.2
      7 August 2012 at 10:23 am

      Millsy maybe you could have the same argument with the toilet paper millionare spencers when you go for a swim on his private beach Maori in your case are not allowed property rights conferred a 172 years ago but never upheld.
      A little home spun propaganda tale of white supremacy.

    • NickS 2.3
      7 August 2012 at 5:45 pm

      /facepalm

      Keep up with the delusional bullshit please, the rest of us will enjoy our perfectly free to access rivers and lakes for recreation, more so since it’ll be free of delusional, racist idiots such as yourself.

  3. Dv 3
    7 August 2012 at 9:35 am

    And there will be no problem with the court because Key says the case is rock solid.
    Hah

    • Tracey 3.1
      7 August 2012 at 10:05 am

      Just like the case for not paying care workers overnight was rock solid, until it wasn’t, twice… still, we spent the money on the crown law office defending the indefensible.

  4. tc 4
    7 August 2012 at 9:39 am

    All those top advisers and spin doctors along with a docile MSM that never challenges the BS and this is the result.
    Along with the sell out Maori Party going along for the limos and whanau ora junkets this shows how the bully hollowmen just want their way regardless of the long term cost and damage so they can buy another investment property, take an even bigger overseas holiday and add another luxury vehicle to the spare garages.

    Divide and conquer mentality, so much for the transparent higher standard of government and a brighter future.

  5. Dr Terry 5
    7 August 2012 at 9:41 am

    The real problem is that Key can happily continue doing just as he wants, counting on his strong support base (combined with lack of support for Labour). I expect he will get away with it all, as usual.

    • Anne 5.1
      7 August 2012 at 9:52 am

      I’m not so sure this time Dr. Terry.

      As EDDIE has suggested… Maori are a single united front now. That’s a force to be reckoned with!

    • Tracey 5.2
      7 August 2012 at 10:07 am

      Sigh, I think you are right. Someone please, somewhere, press Mr English and Mr key for… Plan B in case asset sales fail to attract the required interest and

      what happens AFTER asset sales to make New Zealand a fairer and healthier nation? And no, a knighthood is not a sufficient answer.

      Is Prince Phillip still one of the 20 greatest living NZers????????

      • vto 5.2.1
        7 August 2012 at 10:13 am

        “Is Prince Phillip still one of the 20 greatest living NZers????????”

        ha ha ha, that was the most absurd, pompostic, laughable, credibility draining, stinking shit heap of a decision ever. Would be great to see the application (or whatever it is) and report (or whatever it is) that went into this decision. Great way to fart and shit all over the honours system.

        What has Prince Philip done for New Zealand that makes him one of our 20 greatest living? Does anyone know? (nobody will answer this question. Nobody answers any questions. Just make bald empty deceitful statements and refuse to answer questions. It’s just bullshit. Key is bullshit. No he isn’t, that’s too good for him. Key is flyshit and about to dry up and be blown away into the nearest stinky creek)

      • alwyn 5.2.2
        7 August 2012 at 11:46 am

        To be fair it is only the “ordinary” members who are supposed to be the top 20.
        Phillip is in a category of “additional” members.
        What the difference is supposed to be is, I admit, totally incomprehensible.
        Jonathon Hunt is meant to be one of the 20. Come on, give us a break. I suppose he must have had some really juicy knowledge about the honours committee members who appointed him.
        Owen Woodhouse, father of ACC, is only one of the additional ones.

    • Carol 5.3
      7 August 2012 at 10:13 am

      Yes, that is my fear, too, Dr Terry.

      Key will push it as far as he can get away with it. The equivocating by the Maori Party doesn’t help.

      • mickysavage 5.3.1
        7 August 2012 at 1:01 pm

        Agreed Carol.
         
        For Key there is a political virtue in smashing this through against the wishes of Maori.
         
        This may heavily damage race relations in the country and send the country’s finances into a dive but it will keep his friends happy and could be worth a couple of points of support in the polls.
         
        Key will be having difficulty what is better.
         
        I would not rule out urgent legislation.

        • felix 5.3.1.1
          7 August 2012 at 7:45 pm

          “This may heavily damage race relations in the country and send the country’s finances into a dive but it will keep his friends happy and could be worth a couple of points of support in the polls.”

          More and more like his hero every day, ain’t he?

  6. Maggie May 6
    7 August 2012 at 12:04 pm

    One World Government – One world Bank – Key is their man in NZ.

    Keys sole interest is making Corporate New Zealand to fit into this system
    He won’t give up his reputation depends on getting the job done.

  7. gobsmacked 7
    7 August 2012 at 12:20 pm

    If anybody heard Pita Sharples on Morning Report today, they wouldn’t put much confidence in the Maori Party lying in the path of Key’s asset sale steamroller.

    Asked if he would consider leaving the gov’t, Sharples replied: “Why would I do that?”

    Great tactics, Pita: throw away your strongest card before you start. Can I play poker with you some time?

    Anyway, I reckon Key and English will push on, say “taniwha” and other distractions, and treat the Maori Party as the irrelevance they are.

  8. UpandComer 8
    7 August 2012 at 1:20 pm

    Timings are relevant in a court situation – judge’s will take into account the timing of what lawyers/parties do in their deliberations.

    The tribunal could have made this report many many months ago. There was/is no compelling reason for it to have delayed it’s processes all the way until now – it speaks of bad faith and a deliberate effort to sabotage the government.

    Asset sales have been transparently in the works since the election – yet now the Tribunal makes it’s unfortunate statements.

    A deadline from the government is more then reasonable in these circumstances. They may do a lot of things, including court – but I suspect the asset sales will go through, and the government will actually gain votes as a result of this bad faith on the part of the tribunal.

    • gobsmacked 8.1
      7 August 2012 at 1:23 pm

      The tribunal could have made this report many many months ago.

      When?

      • Tracey 8.1.1
        8 August 2012 at 10:32 am

        why before the hearing of course. They should have anticipated this. This has to be the most hilarious conspiracy theory yet expressed.

        I wish Key would have told the weathertight tribunal to hurry up with their decision on my leaky home because I am down $120k just getting this far and it’s REALLY inconvenient to my future economic plans!!!!

    • lprent 8.2
      7 August 2012 at 1:28 pm

      As I remember it, the claim by the Maori Council that you are complaining about was only made early this year in about Jan/Feburary after they’d had a close look at government’s bill. It couldn’t have really been put forward prior to that since it is a response to that.

      It is rare that a claim has proceeded this fast through either the Waitangi Tribunial or indeed in any other court in 6 months. It was done under quite a high level of urgency because of the governments rather accelerated timetable.

      The sight of the bull excrement stupidly pouring from your fingers is somewhat amusing, but quite unrelated to reality. Perhaps you should examine actual court processes rather than your self-produced fantasies.

    • Kotahi Tāne Huna 8.3
      7 August 2012 at 2:14 pm

      UpandComer: is lprent correct? Is your wholly false belief about this matter self-created? Or did someone feed it to you?

      It’s the difference between a liar and a credulous fool.

    • Draco T Bastard 8.4
      7 August 2012 at 3:40 pm

      The tribunal could have made this report many many months ago.

      So, according to you the Tribunal could have ruled on the claim before it was brought to the Tribunal’s attention? Riiiiight.

  9. ad 9
    7 August 2012 at 1:56 pm

    I quite like how Prime Minister Key seeking to sink the racist wedge into New Zealand has worked so little. Sure he got a bit of a blip in the polls, sure it excited a specific talkback sector, but it was nowhere near the impact of of Brash’s Orewa speech.

    We don’t have to presume a growing national maturity or anything, just soemthing akin to Gay marriage: teeth may grind in the heartland, but no-one’s head actually exploded.

    Key’s only possible play against the unpopularity of asset sales was to turn Maori and non-Maori against each other about asset sales and hence weaken the overall opposition. Sink the wedge.

    I enjoyed the shadenfreude in the post and look forward to Oh so much more schadenfreude as it grinds its way through the High Court, and the the Appeal Court, and then the Supreme Court.

    Even though the Foreshore and Seabed-enthused marches were grander in political impact, in consitutitional and economic impact these impending cases are the really big stormfronts.

  10. Roy 10
    7 August 2012 at 2:47 pm

    Kudos to the Tribunal for openly reprimanding Key for pressuring them to decide quickly, anyway. It is a measure of Key’s arrogance that he tried.

  11. captain hook 11
    7 August 2012 at 3:54 pm

    ho hum.
    when key is finished here he will probably be headhunted for a CEO gig at a soft drink company.

    • Hami Shearlie 11.1
      8 August 2012 at 12:33 am

      Or a tobacco company!!! Or a Liquor Empire. The list is endless!!! Whatever he takes on is bound to be NOT for the benefit of humankind – just his!!

    • rosy 11.2
      8 August 2012 at 12:37 am

      He couldn’t do CEO. Doesn’t have the skills and private companies don’t hire all the minders he has now to ensure he makes a fool of himself as infrequently as possible. A directorship or two would suit just fine but.

  12. Tracey 12
    8 August 2012 at 10:34 am

    Is Hawaii ripe for ceding from the US!!?????

  13. Bored 13
    8 August 2012 at 10:49 am

    Me and my rich boy buddies from Parnell are really pissed off, and we are going to stamp our little feet really hard because we are really cross with those naughty Maoris. All we wanted to do was use our large dollops of disposable income for the benefit of the country by owning the power companies. Johnnie could have used the cash to pay for our tax cuts, and all those bennies out there who we fund with what tax we do pay could buy their electricity from us so we get our money back…now that’s fair isn’t it?