Nicola Willis: The Face of Theft [updated]

"Nice supermarket chain you have here. Shame if something were to happen to it ... "

When the Greens suggested a policy calling for a government supermarket, National called it "communist." "Soviet." Now, Nicola Willis wants to forcibly "break up" private supermarkets in a bid to lift its flagging electoral fortunes.

It's of a piece with David Cunliffe's 2006 dismemberment of Telecom, a privagte company, and the First Labour Government's nationalisation of the BNZ.

 I was (initially) impressed with Business NZ's response, which came out swinging. "BusinessNZ is alarmed at National's proposal to pursue the separation of supermarket chain Foodstuffs," said BusinessNZ's Catherine Beard.

New Zealand has long benefited from a reputation for regulatory stability, respect for property rights and predictable policy settings. Measures of this nature risk undermining that reputation at a time when New Zealand needs investment, productivity growth and economic confidence ...

This is a very concerning move by the National Party and sends a chilling signal to businesses across New Zealand ... We consider this to be in the same league as Labour's ban on oil and gas exploration and New Zealand First's promise to split up the gentailers.

Exactly right. 

If National really gave a damn about regulatory stability, respect for property rights and predictable policy settings, it would be ashamed of itself. But this of course is the same party which had a Prime Minister who made up budget settings on the hood (so much for predictable policy settings), and went on to introduce the RMA (so much for private property rights). 

And of  course the hypocrisy is baked in: when Labour's Michael Cullen introduced his Welfare for Working Families in order to get over the line in a narrow election, National leader John Key described it then as "communism by stealth" -- only to embrace it three years later. (As it happens, Willis was then a senior advisor to Key during this capitulation.)

So National has form.

But if only Business NZ's Catherine Beard had left it at that. Instead. she heads swiftly from the broad uplands of principled opposition to Willis's pledge to strong-arm a private business, and straight into the undergrowth of compromise. 

Ms Beard said any proposal to structurally separate Foodstuffs would require rigorous scrutiny of its unintended consequences.

"Scrutiny."

Increasing competition in New Zealand's grocery sector is a worthwhile goal, but structural intervention of this scale raises significant questions about whether it would actually deliver lower prices for consumers. 

A "worthwhile goal." Raises "significant questions."

Guess which responses will be read by Willis and her scumbag team.

At least Jordan Williams and Michael Reddell were more forthright.

UPDATE:

More commentary. First, Henry Cooke:

National, a party founded to protect private enterprise from the predations of state intervention, will campaign on "pursuing" the breakup of Foodstuffs into two competing

chains.

Eric Crampton:

National came into government promising a resource management regime based on property rights. It's going into the next election promising a property rights regime based on a hopeful Cost-Benefit Analysis and vibes.