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Labour's economic development spokesperson says the poor response to the sale of Meridian Energy shares is because it's bad policy rather than Labour's campaign against it.
The price for shares for the second major part-privatisation was set at $1.50, the bottom end of the estimated range, and far fewer people participated than in the Mighty River float.
Finance Minister Bill English is blaming the proposal by Labour and the Greens to create a single buyer for power.
But Mr Jones says the sale has only gone ahead despite adverse market conditions and the poor performance of Mighty River shares because the National Party wants to reward its backers in the financial sector.
"These assets have been well run they've generated good returns for all kiwis but, the government doesnt believe in that kind of business, it believes in these big companies being owned more by foreigners and a narrow range of New Zealanders. So really that's the only genuine reason that it's being sold," he says.
Shane Jones says New Zealanders don't want to buy assets they already own.
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