Asset sales petition organisers say they have the numbers of signatures for a referendum. (h/t mickysavage) However, to be sure, they will continue to collect signatures up until the time to submit the petition at the end of January. Congratulations and thanks to all who have worked so hard on the petition.
Grey Power national president Roy Reid said the group had collected more than 340,000 signatures, allowing for a percentage of signatures that did not meet the requirements under the Citizen Initiated Referendum Act.
After checking the figures at the end of 2012, Mr Reid was confident they now had the numbers to push through the referendum. …
Mr Reid said the anti-asset-sales coalition would continue to collect signatures over the new few weeks, before the petition was presented to Parliament when it opened again in the last week of January.
This should mean the campaign then shifts from collecting signatures to presenting the case against asset sales. The referendum question is;
“Do you support the Government selling up to 49 per cent of Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power, Genesis Power, Solid Energy and Air New Zealand?”
While a high proportion of New Zealanders still support john Key, most New Zealanders are against asset sales. The Herald on Sunday reported on the 30 December 2012 that:
New Zealanders are loath to relinquish even a partial ownership share in national assets such as power companies – but the asset sales debate hasn’t harmed the Government’s polling one jot. …
Yet despite the opposition to the asset sales, Prime Minister John Key continues to enjoy unmatched favour in the Key Research- Herald on Sundaypoll: 59.8 per cent of eligible voters nominate him their preferred leader.
If an election were held tomorrow, 46.9 per cent of voters would tick the National box. As long as National’s coalition partners in Act and United Future held their electorate seats, John Key would be returned to the Beehive as Prime Minister.
However, the article also reports that:
A Key Research- Herald on Sunday poll reveals three out of five Kiwis want to keep tight hold of the country’s engine room. Only 32.1 per cent of eligible voters support the Government’s mixed-ownership model for Mighty River Power, Genesis, Meridian, Solid Energy and an increased sale of Air NZ; 59.2 per cent oppose the sales.
Those aged between 45 and 64 years – the voting bloc that lived through the dismantling of state-owned enterprises during the 80s – are the strongest opponents of the sales.
Organisers of a petition to force a national referendum on the asset sales told the Herald on Sunday they had now topped the magic number of 310,000 signatures and will present the petition to Parliament’s clerk next month.
Everyone of all voting ages need to be provided with the evidence that shows sale of the power companies will be very bad fro all New Zealanders, and to be encouraged to vote in the referendum.
And let’s not forget just before Christmas an OAI showed Treasury had warned against the rushed asset sales. meanwhile there’s still a further court challenge by Maori groups over water rights.
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