New foreign owners register for farm land
18 August 2015
New foreign owners register for farm land
A
publically-accessible register of foreign owners and tougher
requirements for them to live up to their investment
promises are needed to bolster the powers of the Overseas
Investment Office, Labour’s Land Information Spokesperson
Stuart Nash says.
“Large blocks of productive New Zealand land are heading into foreign ownership. The Government has no idea how much has been sold and whether those owners are living up to the OIO’s requirements to create jobs and bring economic benefits over and above what a New Zealand investor would.
“A Labour government would amend the Overseas Investment Act to ensure we can hold all foreign investors to account for the promises they make in their consent applications. Foreign buyers often make sweeping promises about issues like job creation, increasing export receipts and further downstream investment.
“Yet all the Government does is receive desktop reports without ever getting the gumboots on and getting down to the farm to investigate whether this value is being added or not.
“Labour would also ensure that a register of foreign owners is constructed and maintained so all New Zealanders can easily access information around who is buying our land.
“We would make it mandatory for an annual report to be published outlining the value foreign investment has added to New Zealand’s economy and communities. We would also conduct spot audits on the investors.
“It’s time for more transparency and accountability on foreign ownership,” says Stuart Nash.
ends