Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters wants a state-owned insurance company.
He said the country needed a domestic competitor because the insurance industry was dominated by international planners.
"[We have] excessive premiums and a loss of jobs to other countries, and this will go on until we make a stand and say 'well we should have our own insurance company',” he was reported as saying.
His comments were sparked by news IAG is planning to move jobs from Christchurch to the Philippines, a move he said was “chasing third-world wages”.
National MP Gerry Brownlee said it was important not to jump on the nationalistic “emotional band wagon” – when AMI went under after the Christchurch earthquakes, it cost taxpayers more than $1.5 billion.
