The Government explains how the big super fund will help economic deve

GRANT GILLON to the Minister for Economic Development: What are the implications for New Zealand’s long-term economic and infrastructural development of a secure, widely supported and publicly funded superannuation scheme?

RT HON JIM ANDERTON: Mr Speaker, the implications are very substantial. This issue is a defining one between the Government and the Opposition. We see an active role for the Government working in partnership with the rest of the economy. To maximise opportunities and growth and to address fundamental issues we need to build the level of the Crown’s net worth. To enable this to happen, our pre-funding proposal will increase the level of net worth and size of the Crown’s balance sheet, thus enabling the New Zealand Government to make the necessary investments in our essential infrastructure such as education, health care, housing, transport and other economic development opportunities.

GRANT GILLON to the Minister for Economic Development: Can the Minister explain to the House how a growing New Zealand superannuation fund will help the New Zealand people and New Zealand Government invest in our social and economic future.

RT HON JIM ANDERTON: The fund means that we will grow the level of assets that we have paid for and that the Government holds. A stronger balance sheet in turn means that we can and should keep a higher level of Crown debt. There is very little justification for a Crown balance sheet that simply has an extraordinary level of shareholders’ funds and very little debt. There is absolutely nothing wrong with increasing debt to build our asset base. We can as a Government invest in better social and economic infrastructure and we simply must do that to get growth in the country and the regions of New Zealand

BILL ENGLISH is the Minister telling the House that the investment policy for this multi-billion dollar fund is that it will be used for his economic development projects, and can he also advise us just what responsibility he will personally exercise over this multi-billion dollar fund?

RT HON JIM ANDERTON: Mr Speaker. No Minister of the Crown and no politician will exercise any jurisdiction over this fund and I suggest to the former Minister of Finance and Spokesperson of Finance of the National Party Opposition that he goes away and studies Crown balance sheets and comes up with the answer that we have come up with.

HELEN DUNCAN: How will a pre-funded superannuation scheme help the Government to plan for a better future for all new Zealanders.

The Government can plan its own long-term capital expenditures on infrastructure and developments secure in the knowledge that it doesn’t have to worry about the funding of New Zealand superannuation. A stable funding basis for New Zealand superannuation greatly enhances the Government’s ability to implement a long-term development strategy. A long-term development strategy, Mr Speaker, is something the previous National Government had no acquaintance with whatsoever.

MR ROD DONALD: Does the Minister believe a publicly funded superannuation scheme ought to support minimum environmental labour and human rights standards and the revitalisation of the domestic economy when choosing how and where to invest its funds. If not, why not.

The investment of the Government Superannuation Fund would be the decision for the independent body of this Parliament and they would obviously be charged with investing to the best interest of that fund and taking account of all of the considerations that go with such investment including ethical ones that I’m sure the Member is concerned about.

HON PETER DUNNE: If the Government is committed to a secure and widely supported superannuation scheme, why is it apparently so unwilling to share its plans with other parties, while threatening to make it an election issue if they do not agree with what is being planned?

HON JIM ANDERTON: Mr Speaker, I understand from the Minister of Finance that the letter is in the mail but the reality is that this coalition government in nine or 10 months has actually come to an accord on what our view of superannuation for this country’s future over the next 40 or 50 years might well be if we can get agreement. We have agreed with ourselves, we believe the overwhelming majority of people in New Zealand…The country has had the experience of coalition government should never agreed on anything before. This Government has come to a conclusion about superannuation and we are now challenging opposition or similarly minded political parties in this Parliament to come to terms with the proposal we are putting to you and we are then saying, not to you Mr Speaker but to Members of this Parliament and other political parties, and then we are saying… (Cut off by the Speaker)

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