1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: Asset sales are shaping up to be a major election 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: battle next year. Christopher Luxen says he's open to selling 3 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:08,880 Speaker 1: big state owned assets to raise cash, a move that 4 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,960 Speaker 1: Winston Peters are slamming as silly. The longtime critic of 5 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: privatization says the government should fix the economy first. The 6 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: Prime Minister's already hit back, Well, it's not surprising he's 7 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: been here fifty years for going to say he has 8 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: a lot of different views on a lot of different 9 00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: things that are pretty entreged. New Zealand First leader Winston 10 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: Peters is with us now, Hi, Winston, Hello, I have 11 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: to feel like that was a dig at your age. 12 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 2: What do you think, Well, actually got the fifty years wrong, 13 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 2: But I do admire as understanding that experience matters. 14 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, I like that, listen. Can we do it differently 15 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: to what you saw in the eighties and nineties and hated, 16 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,599 Speaker 1: which was the sale of the complete sale of things 17 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 1: one hundred percent out. What about if we go for 18 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: a forty nine percent sale of something? 19 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 2: Well, the reality is if you run the thing properly, 20 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 2: like they do in Singapore, they get proper top class 21 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 2: businessmen and woman to run the TEMISEK model and then 22 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 2: sure they get the maxim out of it. You don't 23 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 2: have these sort of outcomes. But when you have what 24 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,760 Speaker 2: we've got, what I call lacks less than adequate management, 25 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 2: and you put up with that, and the outcome is 26 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:11,760 Speaker 2: almost certain you're not going to get the performance you 27 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 2: should get. But the reality is that the name of 28 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 2: this game is getting an asset and extracting the maximatic 29 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 2: value out of it for your workforce, for your wealth, 30 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 2: and for your own economy. Do you know what other 31 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 2: countries do that? What are we Winston? 32 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: Don't you accept though, that if you leave things in 33 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: the control of the public sector, they inevitably do not 34 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 1: run as well as if you inject the private sector 35 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: into it, right, And that's what we've seen with the 36 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: power companies. A minute that they got floated, they doubled 37 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: in value, they paid heaps more and dividends. So you know, 38 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: couldn't couldn't all of these assets that we aren't actually 39 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:46,399 Speaker 1: be better run if we had a bit of a 40 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: bit of listing going on. 41 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 2: Listen it's nine night, remember, yeah, and Max Badford was 42 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 2: going to plato future power costs. Well, the plata was 43 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 2: vertical when he finished that the exactly what happened, and 44 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 2: we're being screwed big time. We used to have a 45 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 2: national asset for our business and for our homes, which 46 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 2: was cheap, affordable power, and one of the major costs 47 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 2: is now being rolled on us in there in the 48 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,239 Speaker 2: name of privatization. If I had my way out. 49 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: Well, don't you think it was the Bradford the Yeah, 50 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,239 Speaker 1: I mean, don't you think it was the reforms of 51 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: the nineties that were partly to blame rather than the 52 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: asset sales a decade ago. 53 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 2: But I'm talking about the privatization that happened straight then. 54 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,520 Speaker 2: You know. The first thing that happened was that Jennie 55 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 2: Shipley made one power company private. Right now, where did 56 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 2: it all go? It was all forecasters were all predictable. 57 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 2: In fire men Saudi Arabia, I don't pay world costs 58 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 2: for fuel, and I in Zealand we weren't paying world 59 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 2: cost There was a cutting edge advance for our businesses 60 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 2: and built it up on decades by politicians who knew 61 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 2: what they were doing when we were number two in 62 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:52,240 Speaker 2: the world. 63 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: Okay, what do you think about it? 64 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:57,519 Speaker 2: It doesn't have a ring about it. It has a 65 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,240 Speaker 2: ring about it. So a previous group of politicians run 66 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 2: a far better economy and built all these asses up, 67 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 2: and then the modern group group come along with their 68 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 2: neo level experiment. They're not running the economy downd for decades, 69 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:09,880 Speaker 2: and then they start saying, oh, I not will do 70 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 2: We'll disguise our failure by selling off the assets our 71 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 2: forefathers built. Is this rather convenient? 72 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: How do you feel about selling off some of land 73 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 1: Corp's farms which are being poorly like not I mean 74 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: maybe not poorly, but not that well run by land 75 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: Corp and then giving young farmers the opportunity to get in. 76 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,239 Speaker 2: Well, have you looked and see what land Corp Is 77 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 2: required to do? They're aquired to do all sorts of 78 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 2: things excepting one of the farms efficiently for the maximum profit. 79 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 2: You go back to what they should be doing, they'll 80 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 2: do it. But if you give them a whole lot 81 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 2: of out of left field criteria woke stuff, you know, 82 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 2: in performative stuff to do, then they're never going to 83 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 2: make a profit. 84 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: Hey, can I ask you a question. It's a fair 85 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: point that you actually make their Winston I don't disagree 86 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: with you. Can Andrew cost to survive what's been revealed 87 00:03:55,560 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: right now. 88 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 2: It's look, I can't come on this because it's a 89 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 2: matter that you know will be unveiled on proof. But 90 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 2: if you say, would I be concerned? Yeah, I am 91 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 2: seriously concerned at the background to this. 92 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, totally, Winston. Thanks very much, Winston Peters, New Zealand 93 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 1: First Leaders. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen 94 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: live to news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, 95 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.