CAFCA Press Statements

2010

Transnationals’ Profits Down, so Money Actually Stays in New Zealand

The news just keeps getting better. Not only did the Overseas Investment Office and the Government refuse the application by Natural Dairy to buy the Crafar Farms but taxpayers got another Christmas present this week with the announcement that the quarterly current account is in surplus for only the third time since 1987 (after decades of an increasingly dire current account deficit). [More…]

Refusal of Natural Dairy bid for Crafar Farms Sets Precedent for Overseas Investment Office

The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) congratulates both the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) and the Government for having refused the application of Natural Dairy to buy the Crafar Farms. The grounds for refusing have not been spelled out by either the OIO or Ministers, but the OIO Decision says that it is not satisfied that the applicants meet all the requirements of sections 16 and 18 of the 2005 Overseas Investment Act. [More…]

Hillary Clinton Comes Bearing A Poisoned Chalice For NZ

As if 2,000 earthquakes haven’t been enough punishment for Christchurch , now we’re going to have Hillary Clinton visiting us (and Wellington ) this week.

A major focus for her NZ visit will be the negotiations which are well underway for the US and a number of other countries to join an expanded Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (currently comprising NZ, Chile, Brunei, and Singapore, and known as the P4 Agreement), with 2011 as the target to seal the deal. This will be used as the backdoor means to secure a US/NZ Free Trade Agreement. (2 November 2010) [More…]

Why didn’t Labour do something about foreign investment when it was in power?

The Campaign Against Foreign Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) congratulates Labour for seeing the light and announcing a policy that recognises the glaringly obvious fact that unrestricted foreign “investment” (meaning takeover or economic recolonisation) is a disaster and for starting to take some painfully modest steps towards rectifying that (should it be returned to office). [More…]

Public opposition to land sales forces Government backdown on overseas investment act liberalisation

When Bill English announced yet another review of the Overseas Investment Act, in early 2009, he said that its recommendations would be made public by the middle of last year. It has taken until the end of September 2010 for that to actually happen, a full 15 months late. [More…]

If all else fails, call them racists

Maurice Williamson, the Minister of Land Information, is obviously having none of this PC nonsense being spouted by his boss. In relation to farms being sold to foreigners, John Key has said more than once that he is not happy about it and doesn’t want to see New Zealanders become tenants in our own country. [More…]

CAFCA says save the farms – and the rest

The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) congratulates the newly formed Save The Farms group, which has called for an immediate moratorium on farm sales to foreigners “so we can have a national debate”. This group, headed by wealthy members of the upper middle class, has attracted considerable media attention and obviously has serious money behind it to finance its campaign. This shows just how far that opposition to the relentless selloff of New Zealand rural land to foreigners (both corporate and individual) has penetrated through all sectors of NZ society, now including those whom would be usually be counted on to support such a policy, indeed to personally profit from it. (30 August 2010)

Blatant Political Advocacy and None Too Subtle Implied Threat from OIO

Since when did the preservation of NZ’s “international business image” and its “image overseas” become part of the job description (or mission statement) of the Overseas Investment Office? (15 June 2010)

Treasury Chief urges liberalisation of Overseas Investment Act

The fact that Treasury Secretary John Whitehead supports yet more liberalisation of the 2005 Overseas Investment Act is hardly surprising. The only surprising thing is the length of time it is taking the Government’s backroom experts to come up with the expected liberalisation recommendations. It’s been more than a year now since Bill English announced that the Act was being reviewed, once more. This is an Act that is in danger of being liberalised to death. (31 May 2010)

Don’t be fooled into thinking that Infratil is a “New Zealand” company

The sale of Shell NZ’s downstream assets to a joint venture of NZ Superannuation and Infratil has been hailed as returning this chunk of vital infrastructure to New Zealand ownership. It would be a good story if only it were true.

Infratil is actually a foreign-owned company, i.e. it has more than 25% foreign ownership, which is the definition in the Overseas Investment Act. The Overseas Investment Office, for its own purposes, defines Infratil (and several other companies) as being “foreign-owned but New Zealand-controlled” and therefore exempt from the inconvenient fact of being a foreign-owned company. (30 March 2010)

Chinese buy up of dairy farms

The most unbelievably naive reaction to the news that a mysterious Chinese company is hoping to buy up to $1.5 billion worth of dairy farms came from Federated Farmers, which said that this is an “unintended consequence” of the NZ/China Free Trade Agreement. Pull the other one. There’s nothing unintended about this consequence, this is how “free” trade agreements are supposed to work. They all come with embedded investment agreements which protect the rights of investors from the countries which are party to the Agreement, and those foreign investors’ rights are backed up by the force of legal sanction. For example, the NZ/China FTA includes a provision that NZ cannot make or amend laws (without China’s permission) that “discriminate” against Chinese investors. So this is the outcome of what our brilliant politicians (both Labour and National) have signed us up to. (25 March 2010)

Trans-Pacific Partnership: NZ jumping onto a sinking ship

Talks started in Melbourne today for the US, Australia, Peru and Vietnam to join an expanded Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP, currently comprising NZ, Chile, Brunei, and Singapore, known as the P4 Agreement), with November 2011, when the US hosts APEC, as the target to seal the deal. This will be used as the backdoor means to secure a US/NZ Free Trade Agreement. Already the Americans have said that they see this as more than a mere free trade deal but as a vehicle for broader Asia/Pacific economic integration, which has enormous political implications. Alarm bells should be loudly sounding. (15 March 2010)

Just what are the benefits to NZ of allowing Shania Twain to buy high country stations?

Helen Clark is currently back in the country to bask in the glow of the warm fuzzies. So it’s very timely to look critically at the continued purchase of South Island high country stations by companies linked to Canadian singer, Shania Twain, who was the poster girl of the Clark government’s policy on major land sales to foreigners. The 2005 purchase of the 25,000 ha Mototapu and Mt Soho stations by companies linked to Ms Twain and her then husband were hailed by politicians and the media as signalling a new “smart, win win” approach to the controversial subject of foreigners buying up great chunks of prime NZ land. (19 February 2010)

Catching up with Australia: Murray Horton

Don Brash’s 2025 Taskforce made a range of recommendations about how our economy could catch up with Australia. Its ideas, which included slashing Government spending met with widespread condemnation. Murray Horton, Secretary/Organiser for the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) is one of a range of New Zealanders approached by nzherald.co.nz to share their thoughts on how we can shorten the gap. (15 January 2010)

CAFCA – Press Statements 2010