Exclusion irritates Chamber of Commerce

The exclusion of Dunedin from the iwi consultation for partial state-owned enterprise share floats has rankled Otago Chamber of Commerce president Peter McIntyre.

Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprise Minister Tony Ryall will lead the February consultation process with iwi around the country, a process which will be facilitated by Sir Wira Gardiner.

Sir Wira is the husband of Education Minister and former energy minister Hekia Parata.

In the South Island, the consultation process will include meetings in Invercargill and Christchurch on February 14, bypassing Dunedin.

Mr McIntyre acknowledged that Ngai Tahu had its headquarters in Christchurch but said that Dunedin was becoming increasingly important to the South Island economy following the Christchurch earthquake.

"There may be a good reason for it [the exclusion], or time constraints, but we definitely should be a part of the consultation process," he said.

A spokeswoman for Mr Ryall said there was a need to balance the focus on areas where the SOEs operated, and therefore where Maori had more direct interest, with enough geographic spread for the process to be inclusive.

The Waitaki River, less than a two-hour drive from Dunedin, has some of the assets for sale, including the Ohau and Tekapo power stations, Benmore, Aviemore and Waitaki dams.

Further south, there is the Manapouri power project, and some wind turbines.

Mr McIntyre said Dunedin people had a direct interest in the consultation process.

The Government is seeking written submissions through a consultation document on its proposal to remove Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power and coal producer Solid Energy from the SOE Act and put them under new legislation that ensures the Government retains at least 51% ownership and that other individual shareholdings are limited to 10%.

Mr English said the Government promised to talk with iwi when it originally announced plans to partially sell the four energy companies and Air New Zealand last year.

"We want to understand Maori views before we take final decisions."

Mr Ryall said the consultation would not cover specific investment opportunities but iwi investment on a commercial basis would be welcomed.

"The Government has promised all New Zealand investors they will be at the front of the queue for shares."

The five partial share floats were expected to raise between $5 billion and $7 billion, depending on the state of the global financial markets.

Mr English said the money raised would be used as an investment in schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, helping ensure New Zealand avoid the kind of debt crisis faced by Europe.

Labour Party finance spokesman David Parker said the Government's low expectations for the New Zealand economy, including selling off "precious state assets" at below valuation would not help recovery.

"The only reason the Government wants to sell them off is because it has no other idea how it is going to reduce the deficit.

"Changing who owns the SOEs will not improve New Zealand's economic performance. That's ideological nonsense and the Treasury analysis ... proves that."

The Government's plan was made more unpalatable because it planned to sell the SOEs at below their book value, Mr Parker said.

The consultation process starts on February 8 in Rotorua and ends on February 15 in Wellington. Submissions close on February 22.