Ruth Richardson: former Finance Minister criticises NZ First proposal to buy back BNZ

A former Finance Minister once forced to bail out BNZ says buying it back would be lunacy. 

New Zealand First is proposed re-nationalising the bank, buying it back from Australia's NAB and merging it with Kiwibank.

Leader Winston Peters says bank profits should remain in New Zealand. 

But Ruth Richardson says the idea has no weight. 

"It makes New Zealand look like a tinpot country, where populist politicians feel free to nationalise private businesses. Why stop at banks? I mean, supermarkets like Woolworths are foreign-owned." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The only drive show you can try to ask the
question question you, we get the answers, find a fact
sack and give the analysis. Here the duplicy Ellen Drive
with One New Zealand and the power of satellite mobile
news dog zenb.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Afternoon. Winston Peter's proposal to buy back the B and
Z has certainly divided opinion. Our text machine is loving it,
but commentators in the National Party are not. Nikola Willis
has called it extremely reckless. Claire Matthews from Massi University's
Business School says Winston's dreaming, and Brad Olson says the
announcement was headline grabbing. The former finance minister and current
chair of the Taxpayer's Union, Ruth Richardson is with us.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
High Ruth, Well, Hi, I'm very pleased to talk to
you on this subject.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, I'm not sure that you would love this, do you.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Well. It's vintage Winston because when it comes to economic matters,
he's typically angry, he's simplistic, and he's wrong. I mean,
he's harbored decades of hate for the B and Z.
It's fair to say he's probably got a B and
Z obsession. Now he reaches for a policy that's reminiscent
of a Soviet era. You know, he's going to nationalize.
His plan is to nationalize the bank. I mean that's

(01:08):
bound to end in tears. We came close to bankruptcy
on the back of the b and z's poor management
when I was in charge, and now Winston's ruinous policy
threatens to do the same again.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
What is your primary problem with the buyback of the
b and Z. Is it the fact that we would
have to take on enormous debt when we can't or
is it the fact that we haven't got a good
history of ourselves as a country running the BNZ.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well both a. We don't have the means to do it.
But there are two reasons in addition to that. First,
it is a policy that is inherently bankrupt itself. The
idea that the crown could run a bank which has
got great risk is not borne out by the evidence.

(01:55):
But the second thing that worries me most is the
blow to our reputation. I mean, Youse even looked like
a tin pot country where populist politicians feel free to
nationalize private businesses. And yeah, I kind of say, well,
why stop at banks? I mean supermarkets were worth foreign
owned and the sector could do with more competition or
energy contact energy and national investors.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
But you're running through his policy manifesto right. He's planning
to break up the supermarkets. He is planning to renationalize
a couple of the gent tailors, if not all of them.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
As I say, he's got fixation with Soviet style policies,
and as we found with the B and Z and ares,
the Soviets found they failed policies and they're bound to
end in teer.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
What do you think would happen if Winston actually went
through with all of his policies in the manifesto, And
there's no history that he would like he doesn't do it,
so he's probably not gonna. But if he broke up
a supermarket chain, if he renationalized some gen taylors, if
he brought back B and Z, what would that do?
Do you think to offshore investors regard for New Zealand, I.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Think they run a mile and those are the lending
to us would exact a ruinous level of interest rates
to pay for the privilege of using their money in
a country that was completely mismanaged. It's a real irony,
isn't it. You know, his is unsound on economics as
he is sound in foreign policy. I mean, I wish

(03:19):
he'd be sound in both, but he's not.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
Ruth, thank you very much, Appreciate it. Ruth Richardson, former
Finance Minister.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
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