overseas investment

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What are they afraid of?

Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, February 9th, 2013 - 68 comments

Once again Big Film threatens NZ to do as it’s told, or they will take their toys and go home. Specifically, they don’t want negotiation documents released under OIA. Makes one wonder just what is in these documents. What are they afraid of do you think?

Selling NZ – in the news

Written By: - Date published: 8:05 am, December 29th, 2012 - 93 comments

There’s been a couple of stories in the news over the last 24 hours that could do with some scrutiny: Treasury warns of asset sales over-load; potential sale of Oceania Dairy to an overseas company to set up a milk factory in NZ.

Secretive Haast-Hollyford Highway

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, December 5th, 2012 - 15 comments

A rather secretive bid in Central Otago/Westland for what amounts to a toll road cutting through a National Park. As with the as-yet-undecided tunnel and monorail proposals, this raises the question of whether Zealand is moving in the direction of selling its most public and protected land to private developers, for their private profit-generating schemes. It will have meetings to brief as many “key stakeholders” with a “significant interest” but will include “no public meetings”.

‘The Asian Century’: Aus, NZ

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, October 29th, 2012 - 22 comments

Gillard’s ‘Asian Century’ white paper, and negotiations of the ASEAN trade agreement (RCEP) are significant developments in US-China struggle for dominance in the region. Aussie wants to be a major player. How should NZ respond?

Selling New Zealand: 100% Muddle-Urf

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, October 11th, 2012 - 18 comments

Why is John Key backing the flagging tourist industry as a major export earner for NZ’s future? His trip to Hollywood was partly about using the Hobbit to promote NZ as a tourist destination. Why is the government so fixated on attracting more US tourists?

Hollywood Rules

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, October 8th, 2012 - 76 comments

In another slippery John Key u-turn, after his mission to Hollywood ‘sweeteners’ are now on the table. Key is bending over to let US-based conglomerates extend their dominance in NZ, in support of their own interests and values.

Of Hollywood, Hobbits & NZ-US politics: Episode II

Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, October 4th, 2012 - 66 comments

As Key heads off to the US to promote the NZ film industry, I look back at the Hobbit union-busting case and the issues it raised. Will Key’s latest mission to Hollywood, boost the economy, increase jobs and provide benefits to the NZ film industry? Or will it actually undermine the NZ’s economy and democracy, further Americanising NZ’s culture along with it?

Pengxin’s outrageous profiteering attempt

Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, June 29th, 2012 - 21 comments

Shanghai Pengxin’s bid to buy the Crafar Farms was accepted the 2nd time on promises it would invest in building the farms’ productivity in a way a New Zealand buyer couldn’t. Instead, they immediately turned around and tried to sell 3 of the farms at an outrageous profit. Pengxin has shown it has no intent of being bound to the commitments it has made.

Govt case for Crafar sale seriously flawed

Written By: - Date published: 6:32 am, April 23rd, 2012 - 203 comments

Fran ‘sell it all’ O’Sullivan says the government’s case for selling Crafar farms “appears robust”. Well, she would say that. But, if you read it, you’ll see they’ve just done a half-arsed, perfunctory attempt to appear to abide by the law as defined by the Court while coming to the same decision on the same offer. It’ll be shot to pieces in Court.

Sold out

Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, April 20th, 2012 - 107 comments

As expected, the Nats kept on pushing until they got the answer that they wanted on the Crafar farms. A bit more of NZ has been sold out…

Govt not monitoring overseas investors

Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, April 16th, 2012 - 15 comments

The Right says selling all our stuff and letting the profits flow offshore is great. At least $2b of the asset sales programme will be bought by foreigners. But does overseas investment actually provide the benefits it claims? We don’t know because the government doesn’t monitor the outcomes. The Nats’ obsession with selling our stuff is ideological, without any evidence it’s good for the country.

Chinese threats over Crafars deal

Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, March 17th, 2012 - 141 comments

China’s political counsel (note, not a trade official) has threatened New Zealand over the Crafar Farms deal saying that New Zealand trade to China and investment from China is at risk. It seems an extraordinary action over a supposedly private business arrangement. As was Chinese Officials’ meeting with the OIO while the first Crafar farm decision was being made.

China

Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, March 13th, 2012 - 19 comments

There’s been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over Pengxin Shanghai’s attempt to buy the Crafar farms. Justified too. I want to take a step back and look at the strategy that China is executing and the imperatives behind it. Like any successful organisation, China is seeking to perpetuate its power. That requires securing access to resources. And China’s sitting on the low-cost cash to do it.

Overseas investment must show real gains

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, March 12th, 2012 - 36 comments

David Shearer’s private member’s Bill on foreign investment is pure common sense: unless foreign ownership actually adds something substantial to the economy that cannot be supplied by local owners then all foreign investment brings is higher land prices, locking out Kiwis from ownership. Overseas buyers must bring something real to the table. A good first policy.

Seething O’Sullivan misunderstands markets

Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, February 18th, 2012 - 303 comments

Fran ‘Sell it all’ O’Sullivan is fuming over the Court decision putting aside the approval of Pengxin’s application to buy Crafar Farms. She knows that Pengxin can’t satisfy the actual legal test because its bid has never been about bringing benefit to New Zealand. Its been about securing strategic assets for China. But some of her whining really needs to be pulled up.

Nats’ Crafar Farm kickback

Written By: - Date published: 12:17 pm, February 16th, 2012 - 43 comments

On November 30th, after the election, National received a $55,000 donation from Oravida, a company formerly owned by Terry Lee, director of Pengxin’s Crafar Farms vehicle, Milk New Zealand. In light of National’s illegal decision to let Pengxin buy the farms despite a lack of real benefits to New Zealand, maybe we ought to examine that donation a little  more closely.

Key’s ‘sell, sell, sell’ mantra out of touch with NZ

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, February 16th, 2012 - 77 comments

The Crafar Farms decision is sensible and a correct interpretation of the law. Foreign buyers must add something that a local buyer can’t, other than a higher purchase price. Otherwise, our farmers will continue to be out-bid for our land by foreign government-backed companies that can afford a lower rate of return, and NZ will gain nothing. So, why is National rushing to change the law?

Foreign banks bleeding us dry

Written By: - Date published: 6:47 am, February 14th, 2012 - 340 comments

The Bankers’ Crisis is hurting people all over the world. From the deepest, darkest austerity in Greece, to the continuing foreclosure tsunami in the US, to cutbacks and job losses here, it’s the ordinary people suffering the hangover for the bankers’ wild decades of unbridled excess and profit. But at least the banks are suffering too, eh? Yeah, nah.

Hickey on playing by the rules

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, February 5th, 2012 - 130 comments

While the rest of the world is moving away from the ‘hands off’ monetary policy that became fashionable in the 80s, our government insists on playing by the outmoded neoliberal ‘rules’ of a clean float. Well, what happens when everyone else ‘cheats’ by printing free money to drive their currencies lower and we sit on our hands? We lose our assets and our exporters.

More columns from O’Sullivan, please

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, February 4th, 2012 - 133 comments

Every time some rightwing ideologue calls 80% of New Zealanders racist or xenophobic because we don’t want to lose control of our future and sell our strategic assets to fall into the hands of a foreign dictatorship that is going around the world buying up key resources to secure their own supply chains at the cost of our sovereignty, and reminds us that National is letting this happen, I smile. Keep it up, Fran.

Crafar vs Cameron

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, February 2nd, 2012 - 119 comments

Spot the difference: Mega-corporation with close ties to foreign dictatorship that has a policy of securing strategic resources buys swathes of New Zealand farmland after a bid by a company directly owned by the dictatorship was rejected. New Zealand public company to become the foreign company’s tenant. vs New resident in New Zealand buys farm.

Kiwis want to keep our land, will Key listen?

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, January 31st, 2012 - 35 comments

I/S at NoRightTurn says we should hold Key to his latest pathetic excuse making for his inaction on the sale of our farmland overseas: “John Key’s excuse for the Crafar farms sale? His hands were tied. But he’s promising to change the law if we make enough noise about it” Unfortunately, Key doesn’t mean it. He has no intention of listening.

It’s not racist to want self-determination

Written By: - Date published: 2:49 pm, January 28th, 2012 - 139 comments

Danyl at Dimpost says it all succinctly on Crafar Farms: while China is a rising economic super-power and a close trade partner of New Zealand, it’s also a totalitarian military dictatorship. People are allowed to feel apprehensive about such a state building its own vertical supply chains within the New Zealand economy without being labeled xenophobic and racist.

Treachery

Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, January 28th, 2012 - 703 comments

Fran O’Sullivan is an enemy of the people. Her article in this morning’s Herald will forever brand her as a traitor to this country. She will be shunned and reviled by people who understand what a disgusting sell-out she has become. There is no coming back from this. The Crafar decision is a victory for […]

Being tenants in our own land now OK by Key

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, January 26th, 2012 - 585 comments

When he was running for re-election, John Key said he opposed selling the Crafar farms offshore: “I am concerned about the risk that New Zealanders become tenants in their own land”. Now he has won what is very likely his last term, he doesn’t give a damn about the farms going into foreign ownership and our publicly-owned farming company literally becoming the tenant of the land.

Tenants in our own land

Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, January 14th, 2012 - 54 comments

See Landcorp planning to pay $18m a year rent to a government-linked Chinese firm to run the Crafar farms? So New Zealand is in the enviable position of having to pay rent to foreign owners to farm our own land. Key promised we wouldn’t be tenants in our own land. What’ll be Key’s priority: cutting Kiwi workers’ wages or keeping our land in Kiwi hands?

Polls good for Left

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, November 3rd, 2011 - 80 comments

There’s a TVNZ poll out tonight and a Herald poll tomorrow morning but, ahead of them, here’s some other new polls results that point to trouble for the Nats. 27% of young people want to leave New Zealand. 82% of people oppose farm sales to foreign buyers. 24% of people will change their vote over the Rena.

Who’s walking the talk on economic sovereignty?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 10th, 2011 - 27 comments

Who said this on the double downgrade: “We have this ongoing challenge of a negative investment balance – the profits and dividends that go back to the foreign owners of New Zealand assets. We need to generate the kind of savings that will help New Zealand buy back those assets. A good example would be the Z petrol stations that were bought off Shell (by The Cullen Fund and Infratil).”?

Anti-imperialism not racist

Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, August 8th, 2011 - 39 comments

National says that you’re a racist for not wanting to sell our assets to foreigners, particularly Chinese state-owned companies. It’s not racism. It’s about our sovereignty. We are never going to be able to choose our way in the world if we sell everything abroad and we do not want to become a vassal of the world’s newest empire.

Treasury: assets would end up in foreign hands

Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, July 1st, 2011 - 71 comments

Treasury has confirmed that National’s plan to sell public assets would need foreigners to buy a lot of the shares because domestic demand would be too small for the government to make as much money as it is counting on. Forget ‘mum and dad investors’, the big buyers would be foreign sovereign wealth funds.

Chart o’ the day: maybe we should buy back our shit

Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, June 8th, 2011 - 21 comments

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