Richard Prebble
New Zealand First’s big promise this election is a Future Fund.
The Future Fund looks like a recycled version of the Provincial Growth Fund, but this time on steroids.
The Provincial Growth Fund was to be a $3 billion fund for “regional development”. Regional development turned out to include refurbishing 347 marae.
It also included $52 million for the loss-making Whakatōhea mussel farm in Ōpōtiki.
The Auditor-General questioned the administration and evaluation of the fund and expressed doubt about whether taxpayers would get value for money.
This time the promise is not $3 billion but up to $100 billion for “infrastructure”.
Infrastructure is apparently whatever Peters says it is.
The first promised “infrastructure” investment is to buy BNZ and merge it with Kiwibank, How reducing the number of banks increases competition is yet to be explained.
BNZ has about $12.5 billion of tangible ordinary equity. ANZ’s purchase of Suncorp Bank was at about 1.3 times tangible book value. On that basis, BNZ is worth about $16 billion.
But NAB, which owns BNZ, does not want to sell. It could demand well over $20 billion.
With the Government running a deficit of around $11 billion, where is the $100 billion coming from?
Apparently from ACC, the Super Fund, borrowing by issuing government bonds and private investors.
Why would any investor, including ACC, that can obtain a share of BNZ by buying NAB shares, pay perhaps twice as much by investing via a fund run by politicians?
Why is New Zealand First not being laughed at?
Is it because the promise is so absurd that no one takes it seriously?
Or is it because we think Winston will be safely overseas?
But the media reports that in the next government Peters wants a domestic role.
We cannot afford to keep Winston Peters at home.
Richard Prebble is a former Minister and ACT Party leader who writes at I’ve Been Thinking
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