Wellington - New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark backed off Monday on an apparent threat to veto the bid by a Dubai company for control of Auckland International Airport, the main gateway for 2.4 million tourists who visit the country every year. After telling a radio network that the sale may not be in New Zealand's interests, she told a news conference the outcome was entirely in the hands of just two ministers in her cabinet.
Clark told the Newstalk ZB radio network of her fears that Auckland could lose its direct flights to and from the United States, Europe and Asian countries which bring in overseas tourists and end up being a feeder point for bigger airports in neighbouring Australia.
She said it was going to be "a very, very hot" issue when ratepayers of the Auckland and Manukau city councils, which are the biggest single shareholders with a total 22.27 per cent stake in the publicly listed company, vote in municipal elections in October.
Clark was talking after her Trade Minister Phil Goff had said that the government's view was in line with 80 per cent of the Auckland public, who opposed the sale of the airport in a newspaper's recent public opinion poll.
"They don't want to see key public utilities sold off," he said.
But at her afternoon news conference after the weekly cabinet meeting, Clark said the Overseas Investment Act gave just two ministers a statutory obligation to rule on the sale of "sensitive" land to foreigners.
They are obliged to make their decision on a number of grounds including whether the sale would be in the national interest by creating new jobs, introducing new technology and increasing foreign exchange returns.
Clark said the Act precluded her and other members of the cabinet from telling Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard and Land Information Minister David Parker what to decide.
"It's very difficult for the government to comment without compromising some legal obligation or another," she said.
The directors of Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL) last month unanimously recommended acceptance of a 2.6-billion-New- Zealand-dollar (about 2-billion-US-dollar) offer by Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) to acquire 51 to 60 per cent of the company.
