Greens don’t even know their own joint policy

Steven Joyce pointed out today:

Labour and the Greens have jumped the shark with a half-baked Soviet Union-style nationalisation “plan” for electricity in New Zealand, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says.

“This is truly wacky and desperate stuff obviously made up in the last minute in the Koru Lounge between comrades Norman and Shearer,” Mr Joyce says.

“Their crazy idea to have both a single national purchaser of electricity and to exempt Government-owned companies from both company tax and dividends would effectively demolish private investment in the electricity industry overnight. It would also raise real questions as to why any individual or company would want to invest in businesses in New Zealand.

I never thought we’d see parties in NZ advocating socialist nationalisation policies from decades ago. Stuck in a time warp.

Anyway Russel Norman responded:

Minister Joyce’s release on the Greens and Labour’s electricity announcement is full of basic inaccuracies: he says that NZ Power would exempt electricity companies from corporate tax and dividends, which is completely false and not backed by anything in the discussion document.

So is Russel correct that Joyce has it wrong? Let’s look at the press release from no less than David Shearer:

The Crown will forgo dividends and tax revenue from the power companies.

I say game and set to Joyce.

Bad enough to have a mad Soviet style policy. Even worse to not even knowing what is in it, when you are auditioning to be Finance Minister for a Labour-Greens-Mana Government.