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Summarised by Centrist
Labour has admitted it still does not know which state assets would go into its proposed Future Fund, how much the policy would cost the Crown, or how many jobs it would create. This is despite Labour having announced the policy last October.
Chris Hipkins is calling the fund the “cornerstone” of Labour’s jobs strategy.
The Future Fund would use dividends from state-owned enterprises to invest in New Zealand companies, alongside an initial $200 million injection from a future Labour government.
However, Labour confirmed it still does not know the full fiscal impact because the assets going into the fund have not yet been chosen.
Finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds claims Labour had deliberately avoided deciding which state-owned enterprises would be placed into the fund because some assets may have “Treaty claims and overlay” or “Treaty clauses” attached to them. The party says key details will only be worked out after the election, once officials provide advice on Treaty-related obligations attached to some state-owned assets.
“We haven’t decided what assets to put in it,” Edmonds said. “We’re not going to be reckless and just pick a couple of assets and pop them in without actually knowing what the fiscal cost is.”
National seized on the admission, accusing Labour of reviving “policy by working group”.
Labour also conceded it has not modelled how many jobs the fund would create. Edmonds argued employment outcomes would depend on where future investments were made and pointed to Ireland’s Strategic Investment Fund as a possible model.
