It won’t stop at power companies

I don’t think people realise the precedent that will be created if you allow a Government to nationalise the entire power generating industry, on the grounds that they are not competitive enough and charge too much.

I said that using the same logic, you could nationalise supermarkets on the grounds we do not have enough competition there. Any politicians from the left have been going on about the lack of competition there for some time.

Now Fran O’Sullivan says the energy policy is a Chavez style nationalisation. Well read this story to understand where things may end up:

Citing price-gouging and “multiple violations of Venezuelan laws”, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has nationalised Exito, a chain of supermarkets under French and Colombian ownership.

 

Chavez accused the chain of raising food prices without just cause, after Venezuela devalued its currency earlier this month.

Now both Labour and Greens want to devalue the NZ currency. The inevitable impact from doing so, is price increases. So if supermarkets increased their food prices, it would be the perfect excuse to introduce a single buyer for food also, effectively nationalising supermarkets also.

Some people may say Labour’s policy is not nationalisation, but it substantially is. In theory the power companies remain privately owned, but they will be forbidden by law to sell to anyone but the Government at whatever price the Government demands. That is effective control.