More openness needed regarding overseas buyers of NZ land

The Government must move to make the Overseas Investment Office more transparent so the public have the full facts about who is buying up New Zealand land, Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman said today.

Documents released under the Official Information Act show that the Natural Dairy consortium threatened to damage New Zealand’s reputation if their application to buy the Crafar farms was unsuccessful.

“The release of the papers relating to Natural Dairy’s bid shows why we need to be vigilant about who is buying up New Zealand’s best land,” said Dr Norman.

“The only reason we know about the heavy handed tactics of Natural Dairy was through the Overseas Investment Office being forced to release papers under the Official Information Act some months after their bid was declined.

“Natural Dairy spent thousands of dollars portraying themselves as being good for New Zealand.

“These documents clearly show that behind the scenes they were attempting to exert immense pressure on officials and the Government in order to achieve their aims.

“At present a number of bids for land in New Zealand remain completely secret while the scant information released by the Overseas Investment Office tells us very little about who is buying up New Zealand land.

“Cabinet papers are often released on Treasury’s website,” pointed out Dr Norman.

“If it’s good enough for these documents to be online then it is time the Overseas Investment Office began giving us the full facts about those wanting to buy up New Zealand land.”