Stop assets sales rather than pressuring Tribunal

National should halt its assets sales plan until the Waitangi Tribunal has issued its definitive report instead of trying to pressure the Tribunal into fast-tracking the process and increasing the risk of costly court action, says Labour’s SOEs Spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove.

“John Key and Bill English have been reassuring us all along that the whole sales process is all go and full steam ahead.

“But today we see them trying to pressure the Waitangi Tribunal into rushing its report out because they claim any delay will derail their unpopular plan to sell our assets.

“They are basically telling the Tribunal that if we don’t get your recommendations by August 24, we will ignore you and flog off the assets anyway.

“National’s plan is in utter chaos. It is a shambles. Today’s revelation is just another cock-up in a long line of disasters that have plagued National’s asset sales agenda. It shows that Ministers are beginning to panic that they won’t have the sales completed before the election.

“John Key and Bill English claimed they were aware of the risks around this process and were prepared for them. But they’re now being forced to resort to interfering with an independent body to try and rescue their ill-fated plan,” said Clayton Cosgrove.