The hot topic of the day seems to be Phil Twyford's member's bill [not online yet] to protect Auckland community assets from privatisation. DPF naturally hates it, calling it "scaremongering", Brian Rudman thinks it is addressing a non-existent problem, and Russell Brown is a bit dubious about increased use of referenda, though thinks its a great way of hoisting Rodney Hide by his own TABOR petard. So, what do I think? I don't think it goes far enough.
Having lived through the 90's, when central and local government sold our assets in corrupt sales to their criminal mates, this is not an issue I trust any politician on. And judging by the unpopularity of asset sales in general, neither do most New Zealanders. The solution then is to revoke politicians' delegation on the issue, and require them to go to the people for any significant non-business-as-usual asset sale, dilution or privatisation.
In other words, we don't just need Twyford's bill for Auckland - we need one covering local body assets across the whole country. And we don't just need a bill for local body assets - we need one for SOE's and Crown-Owned Companies (such as TVNZ, Radio NZ, and the majority-owned Air New Zealand) as well.
While the tide has clearly turned on this issue and the message is finally sinking in - witness National's wariness on asset sales and its fear of the "p"-word - that is no reason not to have safeguards. These are our assets, and so we should have the final say on what happens to them - not politicians.
