MEL - Meridian Energy

[vorno]

...Where does that trillion dollar figure come from? I didn't know our water was gold-plated!
As for referendum, just a waste of cash regardless of the outcome. The sale has and is happening either way.

On the sidelines you're forgetting that the Majority of people don't have a lot of free-flowing cash reserves. For a lot of people it would simply go to living costs. For those however who do not exercise restraint would waste the cash.

[Daytr]

Agree re the referendum in some ways being a waste of time being after the horse has bolted, however if & I say if the result was very anti selling assets then surely it must make Key re-think.

Stu, public as in the general public another words everyone, ie Govt.

I always find it strange when someone is trying to make a point they offer an opinion on what other people will do & also make mass generalizations.

If people choose to spend the savings that is their choice & maybe as Vorno suggests they spend it on food & NZ farmers benefit. Either way spending the money helps create jobs be them retail or manufacturing etc. They could just use it to pay the rent or pay off the mortgage. But it should be their choice whether you like the choice or not.

All over the world privatizing electricity assets particularly infrastructure has time & time again proven to be a disaster. I know the Govt still owns the controlling interest & this is a good thing, however they will be changing the shape of how these companies are run & there is a real risk there.

[blackcap]

Agree re the referendum in some ways being a waste of time being after the horse has bolted, however if & I say if the result was very anti selling assets then surely it must make Key re-think.

Daytr, can you elaborate on "make Key re-think"? Do you mean buy back what they sold? Or just not proceed with the last asset being Genesis? Or do you mean re-think in policy in general? Cheers.

[Daytr]

Vote Snapiti. How hard is it!

Not sure of the outcome I am sure there will be plenty of lobbyist types who have a financial interest will vote.
However I agree will be a very low turn out.

Apart from being a complete waste of time and money as the bulk of the deals are done.
I think the results will be;
Very low voter turn out.

Only those who have a strong opinion of the subject matter will vote (not me)

Therefore it will be an overwhelming results in favour of no asset sales.

Talk about shutting the gate after the bull has bolted.

[warthog]

The best thing the Govt. could do with these assets is to keep them in public hands & make them non-profit by reducing private individuals power bills. It would have a massive stimulus effect on the economy putting money in the pockets of Mums & Dads & all New Zealanders that would be spent & multiply through the economy. Rather than making quite sizeable profits & then flogging them off for a discount, set aside a certain amount for infrastructure & renewable energy & then what is remaining reduces the cost of power for households which is excessive in NZ & going up at about double or more the rate of inflation. It will be interesting what the referendum result is, however unfortunately I suspect self interest will prevail. AIRNZ is a bit different as this was effectively a bail out, but perhaps its important enough for NZ as a brand & let alone provider of transportation & freight that it too needs to be controlled by the Govt.

Hold on.

This makes far too much sense, and assumes that the government is acting in the interests of all New Zealanders (a very popular myth).

[couta1]

My wife and myself will be chucking ours straight in the rubbish bin where they belong we have been shafted enough over MRP and CNU by this Govt not to have any interest in this referendum

[Daytr]

Blackcap, well its probably too late to undo what is already done & there is no way Key would do such an embarrassing backflip. But yes I suppose halt the other sales. AIRNZ I'm not so concerned about, but as I have said earlier perhaps its important enough to NZ that it should stay in Govt hands.

If the Greens & Labour form a coalition & the Maori parties will no doubt then join them, Key will be out on his ear. He has been such a disappointment as he had such a mandate & the charisma of a real leader, he could have been one of the greats imo. Only if he had done the right thing for NZ in the long term rather than thinking he is still head of sales at Morgan & Stanley in NYK. I wasn't in NZ under Clark (been away for 19 years!) so I can't comment if he is an improvement or not & quite often PMs are compared to the previous as a benchmark.

Daytr, can you elaborate on "make Key re-think"? Do you mean buy back what they sold? Or just not proceed with the last asset being Genesis? Or do you mean re-think in policy in general? Cheers.

[G on]

Why not partake of the referendum? You paid for it!

[blackcap]

Now couta1 one must remember that the government did not force you to buy any shares.
But I do agree the referedum papers belong in the rubbish bin.

I will be voting in the affirmative.

Daytr, thanks for your reply, that makes sense.

[Daytr]

Sorry Blackcap, what I was going to add & got distracted was that if Labour, Greens & the Maori do form a coalition & become the Govt. then yes there is a real risk that they will take back full Govt. ownership of what has already been floated. They have suggested as much but whether they actually carry it out is another story.