Labour MP Megan Woods says Christchurch should not even entertain an unsolicited proposal to lease Lyttelton Port operations, calling it a pathway to privatisation. Christchurch City Holdings Limited confirmed it received a proposal relating to Lyttelton Port operations, after several weeks of speculation about interest in the port.

Speaking on Politics Friday with Chris Lynch, Woods said the port was a major public asset and any extra profitability should remain in Christchurch. “No, we shouldn’t entertain the idea. We know our region’s growing, our exports are growing. Why would we give away any extra profitability to an overseas company rather than keeping that here in a company that’s owned by the people of Christchurch?” Woods said.

National MP Matt Doocey rejected suggestions the issue was evidence of a secret privatisation agenda, saying unions were getting “a bit excited” in an election year. He said Lyttelton Port Company and Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger had ruled out selling down shares in the port company.

“It’s a huge economic generator for the region, and it’s something that we are quite lucky to have in greater Christchurch. I think the unions are getting a bit excited, but in election year they’ll play those games,” Doocey said.

Woods pushed back, saying the confirmation from CCHL meant the issue could not simply be dismissed as union mischief.

“This isn’t union mischief. CCHL has confirmed it is the case. They’ve received the unsolicited bid, and of course, CCHL is owned by Christchurch City. The Maritime Union, for a long time, has stood against privatisation for the port, so I’m still waiting to hear whether or not you support leasing out the operations,” Woods said.

Doocey said the proposal was unsolicited, meaning it had not been asked for, and said he would not support a sell down. “I don’t think Lyttelton Port Company can be any clearer, as in the mayor. In fact, when you look at what the mayor stood on in the run up to become the mayor of greater Christchurch, he ruled out selling down Lyttelton Port Company. He’s reaffirmed that. I wouldn’t support it either,” Doocey said.

The discussion then turned to Labour’s policy to bring back free prescriptions. Woods said the policy would help people who were not collecting medicines because they could not afford them, and would reduce pressure on hospitals. “We know that there’s still a huge amount of people that can’t afford to pick up their prescriptions. I think it was 155,000 people last year, that’s a huge number of people. Not only does that negatively impact on their lives, but it also costs our health system,” Woods said.

Woods said people not taking medicine prescribed by their GP were more likely to end up in hospital needing more expensive care. She said the issue had cost the health system $37 million last year.

“The pharmacists that I’ve talked to in my area say cost is a huge factor. I’ve talked to pharmacists who talk about people going in and basically going through with the pharmacist, saying I’ve only got X amount of dollars, which ones can I afford to pick up this week?” Woods said.

Doocey said taxpayers would pay for the policy and questioned whether it was the best use of health funding. He said Labour had previously announced a wider prescription policy in 2023 and said that earlier version had been costed at $618 million. “There is no free lunch, and taxpayers will pay for this. It’s a bit back to the future, as we do know Labour announced this in 2023. Back then they costed this policy at $618 million on their press release,” Doocey said.

Doocey said some people struggled with prescription costs, but argued most New Zealanders would prefer new health funding to be spent elsewhere.

“If I was to go out on the street today and talk to people and say, where would you want $618 million of new money to be spent in the health system, very few people would say removing co payments,” Doocey said.

He said National had removed the need for repeat prescriptions to be renewed as often, and had put money into cancer medicines and elective surgery. Woods rejected Doocey’s cost claim, saying Labour’s current policy was costed at $74.5 million because National had retained free prescriptions for some groups when it changed the previous Labour policy.

“He’s out by nearly a factor of 10. If you look through the costings that we released, the costing is $74.5 million in terms of what this is going to cost. I think probably let’s deal in the facts and not just make things up in terms of what each other’s policies are,” Woods said.

Doocey questioned how the cost had fallen so significantly from Labour’s previous policy, saying the numbers did not add up. “When you announced this policy in 2023, it’s costed at $618 million. That’s on your PR, that’s on the Beehive website, and now you’ve re announced it. It magically has been reduced to $65 million. How do you make that work?” Doocey said.

Woods said the difference was because National had not removed free prescriptions for everyone. “When you guys scrapped it, when you came in, you didn’t scrap all of it. When we brought it in the first time, it was applying to everybody. You’ve kept those co payments for some people, but you’ve scrapped it for others, so that’s a very simple reason why the differences,” Woods said.

The MPs also clashed over whether Labour’s election policies were becoming too focused on what people could get from the Government. Woods said the policies were about the kind of country New Zealand wanted to be, while Doocey said better oversight and targeted spending mattered more than large funding announcements.

Woods said Labour’s policy package was aimed at families struggling with the cost of living. “We know how much families are struggling. Cost of living is biting everybody. They’re finding it increasingly difficult to fill up the car, to buy their groceries, just to get by and pay the bills,” Woods said.

She said Labour made no apology for policies aimed at helping people afford basic healthcare, transport and daily costs. Doocey said National’s approach in mental health showed funding alone was not enough. He said the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission had previously found Labour’s $1.9 billion mental health package had made no material improvement, while the latest report under the current Government showed improvements.

“I introduced New Zealand’s first mental health targets that discipline the spend to ensure it’s going to the right place, from the back office to the front line. That is the difference. It’s not big announcements of money and then walking away, it’s around the oversight of the implementation, the targeted policy interventions that ultimately drive a difference,” Doocey said.

The interview ended with a discussion about Winston Peters saying public officials who knowingly mislead ministers or Parliament should face serious consequences, including jail. Woods said misleading ministers was serious and could not be tolerated, but said there needed to be a proper process before consequences were decided.

“Ministers rely on advice. It is our job as ministers to question that advice and to prod it and to do all those kind of things, but fundamentally you’ve got to trust the advice that’s coming to you. I think it’s absolutely right that we’ve got the Public Service Commissioner doing an investigation into this to root out what did happen,” Woods said.

Doocey said there were serious concerns about information now coming forward, including claims officials worked to misinform both the current and previous governments and avoided proper Cabinet oversight. “This government does want to put people in jail if they’ve met the threshold. The last government wanted to let people out of jail. But look, I agree with Megan, there’s clear issues here,” Doocey said.

He said the investigation should determine what action followed. “Nothing’s been ruled out, everything’s still on the table. Let’s see what the investigation finds. If it meets thresholds, then we should come down with full force,” Doocey said.