Kiwi farmers being shut out by foreign buyers

Claims that Shanghai Pengxin tried to charge iwi groups up to $66.5 million for just three of the 16 Crafar farms shows that Kiwi farmers are being priced out of the market by foreign corporate buyers, says Labour Leader David Shearer.

“Kiwi farmers who are the best in the world at what they do simply can’t afford to buy good land in their own country because large valuable tracts are being sold off to overseas buyers under this Government.

“The deal National did with the Chinese conglomerate is clearly not in New Zealand’s best interests. We are seeing further evidence of that with the possible deal with iwi groups to buy at least some of the land falling over because of the high price demanded by Shanghai Pengxin and its farm manager, the Government agency Landcorp.

“We are losing control of best income-producing assets under this Government and the profits that could have benefited our own farmers and the wider economy are simply flowing offshore.

“That’s why Labour is promoting legislation to ensure that foreign buyers cannot purchase land here unless the benefits are greater than a New Zealand investor could produce and it brings substantial job creation and increases in exports.

“It should be the right of anyone living and working in New Zealand to be able to buy land in their own country. National’s decision to approve Shanghai Pengxin’s purchase of the Crafar Farms has essentially locked Kiwi farmers out of the running.

“That is not in the interests of our farming industry or the country as a whole,” said David Shearer.