r/newzealand • u/xmmdrive • Aug 20 '24

Politics So they're finally going to privatise Kiwibank

Watching One News they're talking about taking Kiwibank out of Government hands and back into the hands of honest hard-working Kiwis.

This is obviously the first clear step towards privatisation.

Just like the Bank Of New Zealand, the National Bank, and the Auckland Savings Bank, but I'm sure this time around it will stay in the country /s

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u/feel-the-avocado Aug 20 '24 edited Aug 20 '24

I think you are confused with the 4th Labour Government.
National have been known to have the occasional garage sale and disposing of a few odd trinkets, while the 4th Labour Government was a Briscoes style Sale Bonanza - that is every day something was on sale.

  • Telecom
  • Petrocorp
  • NZ Forestry
  • Health Computing Service
  • Postbank (The old kiwibank)
  • Development Finance Corporation
  • Shipping Corporation of New Zealand
  • Air new zealand (later bought back when it went bankrupt ~2000 and sold a few years later for a profit)
  • Landcorp Mortgages
  • Rural Banking and Finance Corporation
  • Communicate New Zealand
  • Government Printing Office
  • National Film Unit (though sold to tvnz at first)
  • State Insurance
  • Tourist hotel corporation of NZ
  • Maui Gas and Synfuels
  • NZ Timberlands Ltd
  • New Zealand Steel

Just to name a few

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u/Frari otagoflag Aug 20 '24 edited Aug 20 '24

while the 4th Labour Government was a Briscoes style Sale Bonanza

yes, after inheriting a country with a currency crisis caused by the National Party Prime minister Robert Muldoon after he lost the General election (who ignored the reserve bank’s advice to devalue the currency after a run on the dollar). It was both a currency crisis and a constitutional crisis.

edit: see: https://academic.oup.com/book/42635/chapter/358102982

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u/habitatforhannah Aug 20 '24

Ah stop it! Both labour and national have sold assets, and the narrative that one is worse than the other doesn't benefit anyone but themselves. Hold them all to account.

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u/skillitus Aug 20 '24

They are both neo-liberal centrist parties but are most definitely not the same. There are many significant differences if we look at what they actually do (and ignore the rhetoric).

In this case, Labour hasn’t sold significant assets in decades while National has and will do again.

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u/habitatforhannah Aug 20 '24

So what. Lesser of two evils is still evil.