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SOCIALISE OUR ASSETS!The NZ power network is a natural monopoly. The NZ state planned the development and effectivelysubsidised capitalist farming & industry by providing access to use of cheap electricity. No individual capitalistin NZ’s history could have built this. NZ’s electricity system was built by the working class – an internationalworking class at that, with migrant labour a central part of the construction workforce. Power utilities werepaid for by the taxes of the working class - as well as producing the bosses’ profits (including their taxes) -

from our labour. The working class built these utilities and financed the Research & Development of two areaswhere NZ has special expertise, Geothermal and Hydro-Electrical power. There is massive social capitalexpropriated from the working class invested in infrastructure and intellectual property in the power SOEs.This is the stake that NZ workers have in state assets. We are against these assets being privatised and themonopoly profits going to NZ or foreign capitalist owners. That’s why we say “socialise our assets!”

Capitalist asset grab

Global capitalism rules NZ and the NACT government(National, Act, Maori Party and Peter Dunne) represents theinterests of the capitalist class unashamedly. Already theyhave part-privatised by increasing the debt levels of thepower companies and solid energy (35% of their value is owed

finance capitalism), and taken that bank debt as agovernment dividend (profit). The further transfer ofownership from the capitalist state to the capitalist class (theclass of owners) takes placewith these sales. This is thetheft from the poor of thepretence of ownership (heldby the state). This will bethe continued exploitationof the working andunemployed poor, andpower prices that extractprofit margins well aboveand beyond the costs of

power production.Geoff Bertram has

researched the price gaugingof the SOE's who have actedas a cartel and put up theprice of power at least 50%above real cost. That ismonopoly rent whichcurrently goes to the stateas dividends. Monopoly rentequals super profits fromnatural resources, so itamounts to a transfer of profits from other capitalists tomonopoly capitalists. The other capitalists have tried to

offload this loss of profits demanding lower power prices andpassing on higher prices to private consumers. This is justscrewing workers at both ends.

Why is the capitalist class stealing the powercompanies from the NZ state? When power services are soldthe capitalist class will be able to take profits from their“investment” (that investment money is coming from theprofits of the production of the working class in the firstplace). The capitalist system is so weak that capitalism is insearch of “good investments” because their profit margins arefalling. An electricity supplier is a guaranteed monopolyprofit, because everyone uses electricity – so the capitalist iskeen to get private ownership of the profits, a loss for all ofus since it is a move away from the state dividends that can

be reinvested in other infrastructure such as schools hospitalsetc.

Their crisis not ours!

The global financial crisis was just the latestsymptom of the failure of capitalism. Profits were low inproductive sector and “financial” capitalism was promising

bigger profits – however finance capital was unable to deliveron these as the many financial company failures proved.Capitalism is facing a crisis of falling profits and is desperateto screw a ‘reliable’ profit from super-exploiting the workingclass. The sale of state power assets will drive up prices andincrease the super-profit going into the pockets of thecapitalist class.

The capitalist crisis means that the bosses want tomilk that monopoly rent directly rather than see it spent onschools, houses, welfare etc. It is total cynical bullshit to saythat the proceeds of the sale of 49% will be spent on social

amenities. 49% will gostraight into the hands ofshareholders, while thestates shares of rent will goto subsidising big capital andfarmers as the plans forroads, irrigation and “PublicPrivate Partnerships” (PPPs)that guarantee privateprofit.

NZ workers have an

historic stake in theseassets. They are essentialservices to meet our needfor cheap, reliable electricpower to maintain ourhouseholds. Take backcontrol of power servicesand put them under thecontrol of the working classand the power serviceworkers.

Reclaim our power!

The language of the “asset sale” hides the fact thatthese are power services which provide an essential service tothe whole NZ population. It serves the working class byproviding what has become a basic necessity for our living;keeping our food, water, clothing & ourselves clean andhealthy, and communicating with each other. Electricity is abasic need. As a commodity we can only use it if we can payfor it. Reclaim electricity as a need and a service!

The ‘market’ is by definition not designed to meetneeds: it is all about profits. The description of powerproviders as “assets” hides the fact that they were built toprovide an electricity supply throughout the whole country,including delivering electricity to the milking sheds, an

integral part of NZs efficient milking production. Electricityservices are best planned to meet the needs of the populationand of industry (an argument for socialist planning) and theNZ state has done that planning and development. Thecreation of an electricity market has only led to priceincreases and profit taking by the state – a burden on theworking class through household electricity prices. The TransPacific Partnership (TPP) and other tools of imperialism will

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make it easy for the competing imperialist powers to rip offpower super-profits, to concentrate capital in the crisis, e.g.Chinese dairying, and we will see these energy monopoliespass into imperialist hands.

Parliamentary parties a dead end

Labour in the 1980s set up these “State OwnedEnterprises” (SOEs) the power companies, coal, and ran thefirst programme of privatisations / sell offs; BNZ, NZ Rail, AirNZ, etc. Labour MPs say they have learnt their lesson: but

they did nothing in their 2000-2009 years in government toreclaim state control of the SOEs and reign in power prices.Labour’s failure to put the SOEs out of reach of sale is just anexample of the Labour party’s commitment to capitalism. The“market” continued to price gouge from the working class as“residential customers” and subsidise big industrial users suchas the bluff aluminium smelter.

Labour party continues to fail the working classbecause it includes both working people and a pro-capitalistprogram and leadership. The bureaucracy within Labourcontrols the party programme and so will never reallychallenge the capitalist class. Labour is so weakened by thebureaucracy within its own ranks that it cannot put up a realfight against the “asset sales”. They are all talk and noaction. Most state assets were sold by the Lange LabourGovernment in the ‘80s. Shearer will not commit to buyingassets back until he sees if he’s got the money. The Greens will not commit to buying assets back either. The onlyparliamentary party that has committed itself to buying back

state assets is NZ First. Mana has warned it will fight to returnshares into “NZ hands” but has not promised to re-nationalisestate assets.

The  Aotearoa is not for Sale Coalition is alsoweakened by its strategy of directing is protests atparliament. Parliamentary parties following capitalistprograms take the resistance off the street and into petitionsand votes for parliament. So long as Mana and SocialistAotearoa put their energy into begging parliament to stopasset sales their opposition to sales will not win mass supportfor direct action. This type of parliamentary coalition politicsis a popular front that ties workers to pro-capitalist partieslike Labour and the Greens instead of mobilising a massmovement to occupy the SOEs under workers’ control.

Occupy the SOEs under Workers Control

The key demand that should be taken up by allgroups opposed to assets sales is “Occupy!” This is the onlylanguage that the bosses’ state understands. They proved thisby breaking the law to violently evict Occupy from its sites inAuckland in 2012. The NACTs are facing the collapse of theirasset sale strategy but will stop at nothing to sell at fire saleprices. They refused to subsidise Tiwai Point accepting that ifRio Tinto closes the 15% of electricity it currently uses willcreate an oversupply, falling profits and drop in sale prices.Now despite the Labour/Green NZPower proposal, the NACTsare still going ahead with the sales. This total sellout of NZworkers to foreign monopolies and their kiwi cronies cannotbe answered except by occupations and pickets to defend thestake of generations of NZ workers in state assets.

To protect the occupations workers will need tobuild solidarity the local community, call on sympathystrikes, mass pickets and self-defence squads. Then theyneed to put them under workers control. The workers whomaintain and run our power services are in the bestposition to continue to manage them.

All workers who consume power services shouldform an alliance with the power workers to plan productionand services. Representation would be based on workplacedemocracy electing and recalling delegates to a workerscouncil. The local workers council is the forum for makingdemocratic decisions about planning to meet the needs of all. Maori from both the end user and production end of 

power services need to be fully represented on workerscouncils.

No compensation to the capitalist class

Buyers beware! Don’t buy stolen property – theseassets belong to working people. We will take them back withno compensation for the capitalist class. No compensation forthe bankers, financiers, or ‘mum and dad’ investors who havea spare $1000. No compensation to the “institutional”investors or retirement funds. No compensation for any

investors since they all gambled to make a profit from thecongealed sweat of the generations of workers in the firstplace. No compensation whatsoever in any circumstances!

Not paying compensation flies in the face ofcapitalism and imperialism and it ‘treaties’ such as the TPPA(Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) that try to forcecompensation through international law. The TPPA will beused to block renationalisation. So taking back the assetsmeans breaking with all so-called free-trade and securityagreements. Socialising the assets means taking them back; itis expropriating back to the workers who built and paid forthe SOEs in the first place. They are our assets and we willtake them back to meet our needs! 

Socialise our power services!

We are for the overthrow of the capitalist system,which exploits the fact that workers are the creative forcein capitalist society. Socialism means the end of thiscapitalist model of ownership and a move to socialownership - by all. State ownership is still capitalistownership. This is shown by the fact that they are run tomeet the needs of all capitalists by subsidising the cost of power as Bertram’s research proves. Rio Tinto is a classiccase.

Nationalised assets are easier to socialise underworkers control than expropriating individual shareholders.

We need to start now to win support for socialising allformer state assets as well as the strategic assets of largeNZ and foreign corporations.

But we can do better than state ownership; we canthrow capitalism out altogether and plan the wholeeconomy to meet the needs of all. The meeting of theelectricity needs of just part of one basic economic planthat needs to be implemented at a national level: Smashthe capitalist electricity market. Plan to meet theelectricity needs of all and for industry that meets ourneeds.

•  Stop the asset sales! Occupy our

SOEs! Smash the TPPA!•  Socialise all former state assets and

all strategic NZ and foreign

corporations!

•  For a Workers State to implement

a national planned socialist

economy!

Class Struggle Pamphlet Online

http://redrave.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/fight-

asset-sales.html 

Published by Communist Workers Group of 

Aotearoa/NZ - April 2013