Air NZ Shareholders attack 'agenda'

By ELLEN READ

The Government had an agenda of reprivatising Air New Zealand all along, and deserves a roasting over its handling of the issue, says the chairman of the Shareholders' Association, Bruce Sheppard.

The association, which had suggested to Air NZ a rights issue underwritten by the Government, yesterday withdrew that proposal as events had overtaken it.

"We had moulded our [proposal] a couple of times to fit the changes in circumstances, but the Government basically said ' ... we want to make this a state-owned enterprise and there's nothing you can do about it'." Mr Sheppard said the Government had effectively taken away shareholders' opportunity to fund their own company.

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