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Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall today welcomed the High Court decision in favour of the Crown following last month’s High Court action regarding the sale of shares in Mighty River Power.

“The High Court decision confirms the Government can proceed to sell up to 49 per cent of shares in four state owned energy companies, in accordance with the legislation passed by Parliament earlier this year,” Mr English says. 

The Government has today announced that KiwiRail’s balance sheet will be restructured in another step towards putting the company on a more commercial footing under its challenging Turnaround Plan.

“Under the plan, the Government is committed to ensuring KiwiRail can fund its business on a commercial basis,” Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall say.

There are two main parts of the restructure:

The Government will today introduce legislation supporting its mixed ownership programme, which will help get on top of debt and pay for priority new public assets like modern schools and hospitals.

Minister for State Owned Enterprises Tony Ryall is introducing the new legislation and confirmed the Government is aiming to undertake the first initial public offering – for Mighty River Power – around the third quarter of this year.

The Government has completed consultation with Maori on removing the mixed ownership companies from the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) Act and will make decisions on new legislation in coming weeks, Finance Minister Bill English and SOE Minister Tony Ryall said today.

"We've completed 10 hui around the country and received about 200 written submissions. It's been an excellent process where Ministers and iwi and hapu have been able to exchange views," the ministers said.

The Government has announced a series of hui to consult with Maori on legislative changes it considers are necessary for the float of minority shareholdings in four State Owned Enterprises to New Zealanders.

Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall will lead the February consultation process with iwi around the country, which will be facilitated by Sir Wira Gardiner.