More evidence of need to clamp down on overseas ownership of farms and houses

On the back of Treasury, Reserve Bank and economist warnings that high net migration will lead to higher inflation, interest rates and house prices, we now have a large international fund manager targeting New Zealand and Australian farms for overseas investors, Labour’s Finance spokesperson David Parker says.

“UBS Global Asset Management has announced it has set up a ‘farmland investment advisory service to meet the growing institutional demand... particularly from Asia. The new capability will offer direct farmland ownership...’

“Home ownership rates are the lowest in 50 years, a sure sign of rising inequality.

"The same thing is happening to our farms, with ownership increasingly concentrated amongst an ever wealthier small minority.

"This is made worse by allowing overseas ownership of our farms. Overseas buyers compete with locals and make it less likely sharemilkers can graduate to owning their own farm.

"New Zealanders are already amongst the best farmers in the world. Selling off the future income by allowing our productive farmland to be sold off to the highest offshore bidder makes no sense.

"This is more evidence that Labour’s polices to clamp down on foreign buyers of our homes and farmland are the right thing to do.

"It is the right of New Zealanders to own our land, not the right of those who do not live here.

“A Labour government will restore the Kiwi dreams of owning your own home or buying a farm. We will tax capital gains, clamp down on overseas speculators and build 100,000 affordable homes to take the pressure off house prices,” David Parker says.

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