The Labour Party believes Christchurch council assets are in danger of being sold to help pay for the region's earthquake rebuild, but the Government and the council dispute this.
Christchurch Central MP Brendan Burns says selling assets is an option under the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act.
The council's commercial and investment arm owns or has stakes in companies including the Port of Lyttelton and the International Airport. The worth of the assets in total is about $2 billion.
Mr Burns told Nine to Noon the council assets have delivered $600 million in dividends over the past 10 years, and that sort of income could be used towards the cost of recovery, whereas selling them would relieve pressure in the short-term only.
Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee says he can't foresee the Government directing asset sales.
Mr Brownlee says Labour is beating up the issue, but the council will need to get its share from somewhere.
He says any decision is one for the council and it's a stretch to think there would be a direction to sell an asset to assist the recovery.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker says the council has no plans to sell chunks of its investments.
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