Gutless, unpatriotic and unproductive

Gutless, unpatriotic and unproductive is how Labour’s Primary Industry spokesperson Damien O’Connor is describing the decision to sell the Crafar farms to foreigners instead of New Zealanders.

“Having met representatives of the Kiwi bidders and visited one of the properties I am absolutely confident that these New Zealanders could have taken over and run these farms with greater benefit to the country than these foreign buyers.

“Having Landcorp - a tax payer-owned company - as a tenant on Chinese-owned land in New Zealand is a bizarre and unpatriotic concept,” Damien O’Connor said.

“This purchase further underpins the fact that rural land is overvalued, something that is making it increasingly difficult for young New Zealanders to become farmers.

“We will see further profits flow out of the country as Pengxin develops vertically structured companies at the expense of Fonterra and existing Kiwi dairy exporters.

“There is nothing good in this decision, and nothing good will come of it.

“The National government has been gutless in not wanting to offend the growing number of foreign investors who are lined up to buy every strategic New Zealand asset they can get their hands on,” Damien OConnor said.