Prime Minister, John Key, and Tauranga MP, Simon Bridges, have said that they do not agree with the proposed winter period (only) power discount for SuperGold cardholders. Why? Because the Government will have to borrow some $30 odd million from overseas to fund it.
What arrant nonsense! Currently, the Crown (all of us) owns the power generating companies. It is easy to trace from which of them the retailers source their power, and in what proportion. Accordingly, the rebated discounts can then be charged back to them on that basis. The $30 odd million (if that's what it would amount to) spread over the generating companies would be infinitesimal relative to their total profits. And in the event of a partial sale of these entities, a condition of sale could easily be included that the ‘discount charge back provision' be kept in place. The rebated discounts could either be a charge against each company's total profits); or charged against the Crown's share of the profits. Either way, there is no substance to the claim that the Government would need to borrow from overseas to pay for the rebated discounts.
The proposal could be further streamlined by giving the discount to only those cardholders who also have a Community Services Card, which is noted on the rear of each SuperGold card. That would identify the group most in need.
A further point that Key and Bridges have overlooked is that this proposal will directly benefit those many impoverished Maori that they, and the Maori Party, express so much concern about. All qualifying cardholders regardless of background would share the benefits of this scheme.

G Allan, Tauranga