Source: Radio New Zealand
Barbara Edmonds says the party hasn’t decided what assets to put in the fund yet. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Labour will not release key details of its Future Fund policy until after the election, saying some of the advice it needs can only come if the party is in government.
If elected, Labour will establish a Future Fund to invest in New Zealand businesses and infrastructure.
The fund would be seeded with the dividends of selected state-owned assets, and a $200 million Crown capital injection.
The party announced the policy in October, but the number of jobs it is expected to create, and which assets it will invest in, have not been revealed.
It has previously been citing commercial sensitivity when refusing to say which assets the fund would invest in.
Now, Labour has said it received advice that it should wait until it enters government – because only then can it receive the proper advice.
The advice it has already received said some state-owned enterprises would have Treaty of Waitangi obligations.
Asked on Tuesday how many jobs the Future Fund would create, Labour’s finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said it depended on how much Labour would seed the fund with government assets, and those assets had not been decided on.
“We haven’t decided what assets to put in it yet, because different assets have different caveats that come with it. Some assets have, for example, Treaty claims and overlay, like first right of refusal rights if it gets sold,” she said.
“The advice that was given to us when we sort of did some small consultation in developing that policy, it was ‘wait til you get into government, get the advice from the officials, what those assets are, what’s the caveats on top if it, before you decide what goes into it.’”
Edmonds said Labour would not be “reckless” and put assets in without knowing what their fiscal cost was, or their Treaty clauses or other caveats.
“I’m very measured and very considered when it comes to that sort of policy development.”
She gave Pāmu as an example, saying some of the land which provided returns to the government was subject to some Treaty settlements.
Simeon Brown. RNZ / Mark Papalii
National’s campaign chair Simeon Brown said it was a “new frontier” for Labour to not come up with policy.
“In the history of New Zealand politics, there has never been an opposition so unwilling to have any ideas that the Treaty of Waitangi has been blamed for not having done basic costings,” he said.
“It has been more than 200 days since Labour announced the Future Fund, and Chris Hipkins cannot explain the most basic detail – how much will it cost, which SOEs are involved, and how will Labour pay for it?”
Brown claimed there would be a fiscal hole of $3 billion over four years in the policy, as the dividends from SOEs currently helped pay for frontline public services like schools and hospitals, which would need to be found from elsewhere.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/05/19/labour-holds-off-on-future-fund-details-until-after-election/