Last chance for National to listen to the people on asset sales

On the eve of the final vote on asset sales, Labour is calling on John Key to listen to the voice of the people and put a stop to the planned sell-off of our power companies and national airline.

“John Key must listen to New Zealanders who have expressed their overwhelming opposition to asset sales through polls, protests and by putting pen to paper to sign up to the citizens-initiated referendum.

“Ignoring public opinion on such a crucial issue is worse than arrogant and shows how out of touch John Key is with the rest of the country.

“He’s living in cloud cuckoo land if he truly believes that New Zealanders are warming to the idea. That’s not what the polls show. And the fact that 100,000 signatures have been gathered for the referendum in just a few weeks confirms the strength of feeling amongst the public.

“Many people have come up to me and say that although they voted for National, they are strongly opposed to asset sales. This is not an issue that falls simply along party lines as the Prime Minister claims. It is something that New Zealanders feel strongly about no matter what their political persuasion.

“John Key still has the ability to pull the plug even as we count down to the final vote. He backed down on increasing class sizes because of public outrage and he should do the same on asset sales.

“This legislation is not in New Zealand’s best interests and is not something that should be passed by just one vote – belonging to a politician who has the support of less than 1% of the population,” said David Shearer.