Damien O’connor
Spokesperson for Primary Industries

21 February 2013

Swaps scheme under closer scrutiny

Hard-sell banking practices, which have forced a number of Kiwi farmers to quit their land, will come under further scrutiny after Parliament’s Primary Production Committee said today it wanted a full briefing from the Commerce Commission on the issue.

“The Commerce Commission is currently assessing information it has on interest rate swaps deals,” Labour’s Primary Industries spokesperson Damien O’Connor said.

“However, given the growing number of farmers forced into these agreements who are now facing huge financial pressure the issue deserves wider scrutiny.

“Under the loans swap scheme farmers are locked into high interest rates they can't escape unless they pay hefty break fees

“Banks seem to have been extremely vociferous in the way they sold these packages. The committee would be remiss if it didn’t follow through to ensure the primary sectors have not been unfairly disadvantaged through loans swaps.

“I am pleased we now have begun parliamentary scrutiny into a very big and significant issue for the banking, and primary sectors.”

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On The 2013 Budget

Among Thursday’s main talking points:

We are apparently on track for a margin-of-error $75 million surplus, now in sight for 2014/15. But this sickly creature is hobbling out of the lab on the basis of all kinds of facilitative conjuring: such as trimming by $200 million the amount of new spending next time around.

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Auckland Discord: Govt’s Power Hungry Housing Approach A Threat - Labour

Last week the Government said this, ‘The Government commits not to use any proposed or existing powers ... to override the council's planning and consenting processes’. But its housing Bill says this; ‘If an accord cannot be reached in an area of severe housing unaffordability, the Government can intervene by establishing special housing areas and issuing consents for developers’. More>>

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