Brian Gaynor makes a very solid case for retaining the Crafar chain in New Zealand ownership.
While it appears the receivers have a view on their value which is based on what cashed up international investors are prepared to talk about, protecting the interests of foreign owned bankers who lent Crafars far too much should not be a consideration for Bill English when he makes this decision.
I’ve banged on before about how Landcorp should buy, develop and on sell the farms, preferably with a NZ ownership caveat on the title and to a sharemilker.
The proposed sale of the Crafar farms to Chinese interests is an important national issue.
Such a sale will establish an important precedent because China has enormous savings and foreign exchange reserves that could be used to buy large tracts of New Zealand farmland.
Based on the experience of the forestry industry, which is now mostly overseas-owned, this would not be in New Zealand’s best economic interest.
In this instance I agree with you Trevor – at least on the ownership. Don’t agree we should nationalise it but keep it Kiwi owned. A syndicate with Kiwi owner and a lease to the foreign investor perhaps?
Brian Gaynor’s article is a very insightful piece for a whole number of reasons, but mainly because it provides a very relevant case study as to what happens to a nation’s resource (in this case our forests) when it falls into foreign ownership. I am not suggesting that foreign ownership is always bad, and there are a few very good examples of foreign companies adding significant value over-and-above that which any NZ owner was prepared to do, however, overseas investors often have different motives than do New Zealand owners. And profits generated by foreign owners tend to head overseas as dividends for parent companies and international investors. I have written an opinion piece on the issues currently facing the forest industry that will hopefully appear in the Christchurch Press in the next fortnight.
I completely agree with Trevor’s solution to the Crafar farm issue and have been expounding the advantages of this to anyone who will listen – most do and all get it.
At what point do we say enough!
Surely if bit by bit our land is sold off to foreign money you reach a point whereby NZ owns only a very small patch in the Ureweras, and that’s it.
It must mean that ultimately the say-so of the enlarged ownership would over-rule the NZers (not counting those who by then live in Australia.) Supposing all of the farmland is foreign owned because the previous owners wanted the best price for the sale of their land, and it had been sold unobtrusively bit by bit. How much power would that give to the new owners?
The farms don’t belong to you unless you guys stumping up with money to buy them yourselves? Otherwise don’t tell me who I can or can’t sell my stuff to.
If you really want to stop the sale of assets to foreigners, start getting NZers to stop spending more than they earn and start saving. I will grant that Kiwisaver was the best thing you guys did in your 9 years but the constant demands for new spending and new tax rises will not help.
Banned. Life Clare
It’s been obvious to me for 40 years that to have any control over its own future / destiny the people who live in a country must have control over their key industries and resources. Usually, people in a particular country have no right to live anywhere else. Our media should not be foreign owned, either. We should be talking amongst ourselves, not being propagandised by foreign multi-nationals who own almost everything that is printed or broadcast.
@Iamac – Agreed
It’s a worry dude 
Frontrower – it’s hard for the poories to save because all their money is going on overpriced grub and petrol.
!
Land itself should never be sold to foreigners else we become renters in our own land. Actually, nothing should be sold to foreigners including our businesses. Foreign ownership is bad for our economy and removes our sovereignty.
It should be stopped, we are just making future generations poorer. The last decade has seen nearly all our forestry being owned overseas as well as massive amounts of farmland.
Give foriegners a lease but dont sell.
Perhaps if farmers were charged a capital gains tax they might try and make more money on the way through rather than hanging out for the capital gains that priced kiwis out of the market.
Sinster words from Winston Peters in relation to the Crafar Farms Deal
“Mr Peters pointed out that Chinese interests were donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to National’s election campaign and he said it appeared that payback time was on the horizon”
http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/press-releases/display.php?t=0&i=2942
language this is not Kiwiblog. Try again. Trevor
Owning land is a privilege bestowed by our adopted land tenure system. Use of land is the basis of claim historically and still in many communities.
Trading land produces nothing.
Selling land to overseas interests makes no sense in spite of the protracted arguements for profit by some who see a quick buck being available.
The ramping up of price by opening the market to speculators has seen more land creep into the ownership or control of multinational and foreign concerns. The Banks own about half of the rural land in NZ presently and that situation is further deteriorating. Crafar is an example.
Crazy stuff to let the traders dominate4 the play.
Henry George’s position is that all land belongs to the people and if held by their Govt can be rented out to others on a need basis.
That would stop all land speculation and bankers bonanza that we see now. The system also replaces all taxation funding the country on land rental.
There are many alternatives in managing land but selling off land to foreigners is an absolute no brainier propounded by quick buck profiteers.
Added value arguments are perverse. The land is still the same.
Of course Key is a banker and does what he is told.
Nact is not in NZ’s best interest as it continues to undermine our future mortgaging us to multinational corporates and their banking brothers.
Men go to war for two things land and women (ancient Maori proverb)
@John W says – I totally agree with you.
Quick buck profiteers
abuse the free market and eventually destroy economies for tempory selfish gains
It’s simpler to simply legislate that land and housing remain in local ownership with leasehold arrangements for foreigners.