National - we'll review Kiwibank

National would review Kiwibank's future as a state-owned bank in its first term in office.

The party's finance spokesman, John Key, confirmed National's "case-by-case" policy for state assets in a speech to be delivered today in Auckland, saying the days of wholesale asset sales were gone.

But he said NZ Post-owned Kiwibank would be kept during National's first term in office so its future could be properly decided on the basis of "full and complete information".

"While it wasn't our policy to establish the bank and we have a very healthy degree of scepticism about the role of government in providing banking services, we do acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of Kiwis who have in good faith established a relationship with Kiwibank.

"For an incoming National government to simply unwind this on the basis of ideology would cause unnecessary disruption."

National also did not see a good case for the Government owning an extensive portfolio of farms through Landcorp, so it was likely individual farms would gradually be sold.

And National would seriously consider introducing a private sector partner to coal producer Solid Energy.

But Mr Key said he agreed with National leader Don Brash that selling TVNZ would "not make the boat go faster. The same applies, I suggest, to any question of splitting out TV2".

Mr Key said in general National's approach would be "premised on a strong desire to increase the performance of public sector assets".

"While we expect that, in aggregate, public sector investment will increase, not shrink, that does not imply no asset will ever be sold, or that we would never dilute the degree of public ownership by introducing private stakes."

National is aware of the hangover in public disapproval from the unpopular sale of state assets under the 1984-90 Labour government, and Mr Key's speech is a softly-softly attempt to chart middle ground.

"The days of blind ideological or emotional approaches to economic issues are gone," he said. The "competing ideologies" of never selling anything and maintaining public ownership of businesses regardless of performance were representative of attitudes of 20 to 30 years ago.

Kiwibank opened in early 2002 as a state-owned cut-price alternative to the big Australian-owned trading banks. It posted its first half-year profit last month - $2.5 million for the six months to December 31. But there is continuing scepticism about how much NZ Post is propping up its books.