PR: ACT Repeats Call For Multi-Party Super Talks

ACT Finance Spokesman Rodney Hide said today that he was refusing to attend the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee, set to vote on the Government's superannuation plan, and called the process a sham.

Wednesday, June 6th 2001, 3:00PM

by Rodney Hide

ACT Finance Spokesman Rodney Hide said today that he was refusing to attend the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee, set to vote on the Government's superannuation plan, and called the process a sham.

"We are expected to vote on this bill even while Michael Cullen and Winston Peters are in the backroom hatching some secret process to amend it.

"This is no way to think about the funding of superannuation for the long term.

"The very idea of forcing a vote today is confrontational politics of the worst kind. It is impossible to get a long term commitment to super when Michael Cullen is playing the macho man wanting to make his super plan an election issue.

"He is now looking like having to cobble the Greens in to vote for money on the scheme through the budget and for NZ First to vote for the legislation. This is not viable long term politically.

"We have now learnt through the budget that Cullen is actually having to borrow the money that he is going to use to buy up foreign shares to fund super in the future. There has been no analysis of the costs and risks of doing this.

"There is no need to force a vote on this issue today. Act has written to the chair of the select committee Mark Peck, telling him that we reject this style of confrontational politics and calling on the Government to take a breather for three months and have genuine multi-party talks on super for the future," Rodney Hide said.

Rodney Hide is an Act MP.

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