"Hon DAVID PARKER (Labour) to the Minister for ACC: Does he stand by his statements that "if ACC was an insurance company, it would be insolvent,", and that "we need to get costs back under control."? Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for ACC) : Yes, I do. The dictionary defines insolvency as "liabilities exceeding assets". The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has liabilities of $22 billion and assets of $10 billion. ACC's costs have more than doubled, from $1.5 billion a year in 2000 to $3.2 billion this year.
Hon David Parker: Has the Minister seen reports from Brian Fallow that the Government's "shrill scaremongering and scapegoating is gratuitous", and from Rod Oram that "there is a huge gap between the rhetoric of John Key and Smith and reality", and will he now concede that his exaggerations around ACC were irresponsible? Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I note that there have been other commentators who have been very critical of the financial state of ACC. I simply say to members opposite that if all is well with ACC, why did the Government need to bail it out for $300 million this financial year?" - Parliament TV
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.