Amy Adams puts Chorus before consumers

Amy Adams has put the interests of Chorus and telcos ahead of consumers with her extraordinary statement that a drop in wholesale costs wouldn’t be passed on to Kiwi households, says Labour’s Communications and IT spokesperson Clare Curran.

“A Minister’s role is often one of basic advocacy. As Minister of Communications, Amy Adams’ priority should be getting telecommunications costs down for Kiwi families, not acting in the interests of telcos and Chorus.

“By saying today that it ‘was highly unlikely that retail service providers would fully pass through any wholesale cost savings’, she has made it clear whose side she’s on.

“Why is a drop in prices highly unlikely? It happens in other industries. When oil barrels drop in costs, so does the price at the pump. When the Reserve Bank drops the interest rate, mortgage rates decline too.

“If they don’t, a public outcry normally ensues and the price for consumers finally drops.

“By publically stating the savings won’t be fully passed on Amy Adams is either giving the green light to telcos to hold prices up or is misleading the public ahead of plans to overrule the Commerce Commission if it tells Chorus to slash its costs.

“Either way she is letting Kiwis down. We need a Minister whose priority is lower costs for customers, not one that would intervene in an independent regulator’s decision to reduce prices.”