The Government is expected to announce this afternoon whether it will push on with the sale of shares in Mighty River Power.
It’s widely expected to reject a Waitangi Tribunal recommendation that the partial privatisation of the state owned power generators be delayed until Maori are consulted about how their treaty interests in water are recognised.
Labour leader David Shearer says international investors who will set the price of the companies will have been spooked by the claim led by the New Zealand Maori Council.
“The Government can either sail ahead and disregard the Waitangi Tribunal and almost inevitably end up in court or it can speed up negotiations which generally never work out very well and very tidily,” he says.
