Tony Ryall's final act as "the most incompetent SOEs Minister ever" is to load up the taxpayer with even more of a burden to rescue the train wreck he turned Solid Energy into, says Labour's SOEs spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove says.

'With just two days to go before the election Tony Ryall has snuck out the news that he is covering the cost of Solid Energy's land remediation obligations, hoping that no one will notice.

'This means taxpayers will have to fork out even more money to prop up the company.

'This should not have happened. Had National not run Solid Energy into the ground the remediation would have come out of the company's profits not the taxpayers' pockets.

'Solid Energy was an export-award winning company under Labour. National has turned it into a basket case.

'Tony Ryall's legacy is a failed SOEs sell off and turning what was once the jewel of New Zealand's SOE crown into a shell of a company with the loss of 800 jobs and a debt of almost $400 million.

'Labour has always said the core assets of Solid Energy will be maintained and protected.

'This is a final two-fingered salute from Tony Ryall to New Zealanders who will be thankful he's retiring,” says Clayton Cosgrove.

Source: Office of Clayton Cosgrove.