2 JUNE 2015

Defending Farmers Against Bank Brutality

New Zealand First says farmers need a fair go to try and fix financial problems in difficult times, especially when they have been given poor advice by their banks.

“New Zealand First believes its Receiverships (Agricultural Debt Mediation) Amendment Bill is urgently needed to keep Kiwi farmers on their farms,” says Ron Mark, Wairarapa based list MP.

“In Australia the Commonwealth Bank has established a process and a fund to investigate and compensate people who have received poor financial advice with 13 percent of the claims being upheld to date.

“However, the Commonwealth Bank owns ASB in New Zealand and yet no similar measures have been taken here.

“New Chief High Court Judge Geoffrey Venning has hammered ANZ for misleading farmers over how Interest Rate Swaps were sold. The Commerce Commission then used a wet bus ticket to punish the three banks involved.

“When farms get into trouble, too often the banks take the easy option by placing them into receivership and putting the farm on the market. In their desire to maximise their return the banks and the receivers shoot for the biggest and fattest foreign buyer as they did with the Crafar farms where the receiver took over $7 million in fees. In these situations the receiver wins, the foreign-owned bank wins and the foreign buyer wins – all at the expense of the Kiwi farmer and his family.

“New Zealand is awash with foreign money and we are losing key assets, from PGG Wrightson’s superb seeds business to dairy processing. At least 1200 farms are at risk and we do not know how brutal the banks are acting towards those farmers but we know the pattern.

“Our Bill is about correcting the power imbalance between a farmer and their banker. It is not a get out of jail free card, but will require the banks to have their ‘t’s’ crossed and ‘i’s’ dotted by requiring mediation before receivership can commence,” says Mr Mark.

ENDS

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