Bolger attacks State bill

Press, 26 February 1988, Page 6

Bolger attacks State bill

PA Wellington A future National Government would repeal the State Sector Bill if it proceeded in its present form, said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, yesterday. The party would also repeal a capital gains tax and would introduce a private member’s bill to block the sale of Petrocorp to British Gas and retain the company in New Zealand hands, he told a post-caucus press conference.

Mr Bolger said National recognised a wide-ranging and substantial review of the State sector was required to keep up with the changing conditions in New Zealand. “The Public Service

cannot be left away from change. It cannot be enshrined in the past,” he said. But what was before Parliament now was unacceptable.

The bill was so flawed that it needed to be completely redrafted. The party was totally opposed to any politicisation of the Public Service. A National Government would consult interested parties before producing a bill. Mr Bolger said the caucus was outraged at what was perceived to be the “Lange-Douglas-Prebble pawnbrokers’ act of hocking off New Zealand assets” to foreign ownership in an attempt to cover the mismanagement of Rogernomics over the last three years.