12 December 2016
Chief Reporter
Overseas Investment Office’s Conditions On Shanghai Pengxin’s Farm Purchases Prove Meaningless
In September Landcorp announced that it is selling nine sheep and beef farms. Included in those are farms that it was running on behalf of Chinese company, Shanghai Pengxin.
Landcorp running those farms was a condition of the consent granted to Shanghai Pengxin by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) when it approved the Chinese company buying them
So, what happens to Shanghai Pengxin’s OIO consent?
CAFCA wrote to the OIO to find out. We got this reply from Pedro Morgan, Senior Solicitor (9/12/16): “The consent was conditional upon the consent holders maintaining their contractual relation with Landcorp on the same terms as contained is two particular agreements. The terms of those agreements including an end date of May 2017. Accordingly, ending the relationship in May 2017 will not breach the conditions of consent”.
To which CAFCA can only say: What a pathetic condition! This will be a revelation to the people of New Zealand who may have got some comfort from the idea that Landcorp was required to be in control and will be upset it can be tossed aside so easily and will wonder what protections remain.
The OIO’s “conditions” are not worth the paper they’re written on.
Murray Horton
Secretary/Organiser
Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa,
P.O. Box 2258
Christchurch.