Status of SOEs

Click here to return to the economy summary.                      Click here to return to the policy homepage.

• Adopt privatisation as the model for the management of resources where it will lead to optimal economic outcomes and enhancement of the economic well being of all New Zealanders.
• Achieve best price possible through an open and competitive sales process.
• Ensure appropriate sector/industry regulations are in place, without the conflict that always exists when government is both owner and regulator.
• Put processes in place to monitor the outcomes of privatisation in the key areas of: Employment, social outcome, prices, and taxation.
• Consider the possibility of widespread ownership of shares in government-owned businesses.
• Review the options and feasibility of contracting out services that are currently provided by government employees, with well specified and monitored contracts. Where this has been done by central and local government, savings of 30 percent+ have been achieved.
• Develop and consider models for the private funding of public services and ensure the private sector takes its fair share of the risks. (more here)

• Retain ownership of our state-owned energy companies but focus them on the growing global renewable market and incentivise collaboration with green energy entrepreneurs to spin-off new clean technology export companies. For example, we will require Solid Energy to abandon their plans to develop lignite and instead partner them with Scion and private entrepreneurs to develop clean tech biofuels, wood carbon for steel making, and wood chips to replace coal in boilers. (more here)

• Oppose state asset sales. (more here)

• Introduce a requirement for all State-Owned Enterprises and Māori corporate entities to prioritise the employment of New Zealand residents or face significant financial penalties. (more here)

• We do not support asset sales. If privatisation of state owned assets occurs it must be managed in a manner that is consistent with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Māori Party will support iwi who wish to invest into state owned assets as a means of retaining New Zealand ownership. (more here)

• Extend the mixed-ownership model to four stateowned energy companies – Mighty River Power, Meridian, Genesis, and Solid Energy.
• Reduce the Government’s majority shareholding in Air New Zealand, which is already under a mixed-ownership model. (more here)

• UnitedFuture says let’s start with three no-go areas where there would be no asset sales, not now, not ever: Kiwibank, Radio New Zealand, and water. (more here)