Foreign ownership of land in the spotlight

Are we allowing too much of our productive farmland to be owned by foreigners? What do we lose when that happens?

The Weekend Herald features a major investigation of the growth of foreigners buying up New Zealand farmland.

This story traces some recent farmland purchases by very weathy foreigners, with the most recent high-profile case that of the May Wang-led Chinese group and their bid for the crumbled Crafar farm empire. The Prime Minister's current trade mission to China accentuates the issue.

The Prime Minister is reported to have responded by saying he would not like to see New Zealanders become tenants in their own country.

"As a general and broader principle, I think New Zealanders should be concerned if we sell huge tracts of our productive land."

"Now, that's a challenging issue given the state of the current law and quite clearly it's evidentially possible and has been achieved that individual farms can be sold."

"Looking four, five, 10 years into the future I'd hate to see New Zealanders as tenants in their own country and that is a risk I think if we sell out our entire productive base, so that's something the Government will have to consider," he said.

Among the investors are prominent billionaires noted for their luxurious assets, including one of the world's top superyachts.

Figures obtained by the Weekend Herald show Britons, Italians and Americans top the list of agricultural buyers since July 2005, followed by Israelis and Australians.

Most of the land they bought was for sheep, beef and cattle farming, including some high-country stations of up to 26,000ha in the South Island.

Foreigners who wish to buy rural land of 5 ha or more need to get Overseas Investment Office approval for any purchase. There have been some significant approvals over the past five years.

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