Because he told them so!

Overseas Investment Office says Rupert Murdoch of good character

In May the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) wrote to the Overseas Investment Office: “In light of the recent finding by a British Parliament Select Committee that Rupert Murdoch is “not fit” to lead a major international company, and in light of the fact that Murdoch’s News Ltd owns 43.65% of the shares of Sky Network Television Ltd, when is the OIO going to review, in terms of the Overseas Investment Act and accompanying Regulations, whether all of those in control of Sky are of good character and, if not, require Sky either to divest or Rupert Murdoch to relinquish any control of News Ltd?”.

This week we received the OIO’s considered decision from Annelies McClure, OIO Manager. Basically it boils down to saying that the OIO is not bothered about a British Parliament cross-party Select Committee finding that Murdoch is not fit to lead a major international company. The most extraordinary reason given for the OIO being satisfied with the “good character” of Murdoch and the other individuals exercising control over News Corporation is that he and they told the OIO that they are of good character, in the form of statutory declarations to that effect. In other words, the OIO takes his and their word for it, with no independent checking required. What a bloody joke!

CAFCA has documented the OIO’s long history of going to extraordinary lengths to rubberstamp the “good character” of all sorts of dubious characters in control of overseas companies whom it approved.

OIO’s Rupert Murdoch decision is just the latest proof of its role as a ... doormat

And the latest example namely an article by my colleague James Ayers in the forthcoming August issue of Foreign Control Watchdog, which analyses in great detail the OIO’s truly heroic efforts to vouch for the good character of Kim Dotcom, based entirely on the OIO’s own file on the subject. In that case the OIO was overruled by one Cabinet Minister (the since retired Simon Power), who persuaded his colleague Maurice Williamson to reverse his previous approval of Dotcom’s application.

It was a hopeful sign that the OIO, backed by Ministers, turned down the original bid by Natural Dairy (fronted by May Wang) to buy the Crafar Farms, because it wasn’t satisfied as to the good character of the people involved. CAFCA is also very pleased that the OIO has, very belatedly, taken our advice and is taking court action to divest May Wang’s company UBNZ of the four Crafar Farms that it bought without OIO permission in 2010. But this is the only case we’ve ever seen where the OIO has actually declared prospective foreign investors to not be of good character and therefore ineligible to join the garage sale that passes for foreign investment policy in this country.

The OIO’s Rupert Murdoch decision is just the latest proof of its role as a doorman (actually a doormat would be more accurate) for the transnational corporations and overseas individuals inexorably buying up, and profiting from, New Zealand companies and land. What we need is a bouncer. And, more fundamentally, we need a foreign investment law with teeth, one that states that these people are guests in our home and are here on our terms, a law that needs to be backed up by politicians who put the national interest ahead of their starry eyed infatuation with “globalisation and the open economy

CAFCA Media Release 

Dunne deaf to cries of asset sales protesters

Protest cries rang out across Johnsonville this morning as anti-asset sales groups marched through the streets.

People’s Power Ohariu, which was formed to oppose MP Peter Dunne’s vote in favour of the sales, joined forces with the hikoi that has been marching throughout the North Island.

The hikoi is protesting against a range of issues, including deep sea oil drilling and the selling of Crafar farms.

The protesters, holding placards proclaiming ‘Aotearoa is not for sale’, met in the car park of Johnsonville Mall.

They marched down the main road, before ending up outside Peter Dunne’s office.

The focus on the Ohariu MP is the result of his parliamentary vote in favour of the sales, which protesters claimed he did not have the mandate to do.

If Mr Dunne were to change his vote, the sales could not go ahead.

The protesters who delivered impassioned speeches outside Mr Dunne’s office made their feelings towards his actions clear.

“If you really love this land, if you really care about people in this land, then I appeal to your intelligence and your conscience. I think you should really say no,” said Frances Kuo of People’s Power Ohariu, to shouts of agreement from other protesters.

However, Mr Dunne has repeatedly refused to discuss the sales with those opposing them.

In an email to Richard Goldsbrough, the Ohariu Citizens Select Committee spokesperson, Mr Dunne made it clear that it was unnecessary to discuss the matter in person.

“As our respective positions on this issue are well-known, and not going to change, I see little value or point in a meeting, and therefore decline your request,” the email reads.

The protesters plan to meet again for a march from Te Papa to Parliament at 12pm today.

Click here to see all pix

Crafar Court Decision A Welcome Outbreak 0f Sanity

.

"Take the opportunity of this major rebuff to reverse its self-defeating policy of allowing the country to be sold off, farm by farm" 

Justice Miller’s decision to order a review of the decision to approve the sale of the Crafar Farms to the appropriately named Milk NZ, owned by Shanghai Pengxin of China, is a welcome outbreak of sanity in this whole sorry saga. Not to mention a two fingered judicial poke in the eyes of the Government and its Overseas Investment Office rubberstampers.

"a two fingered judicial poke in the eyes
of the Government and its OIO rubberstampers."

.
It’s only three weeks ago that the Government was trumpeting the “strict conditions” attached to the approval. They have been swept aside by the judge for the load of piffle that they are. The decision recognises that the would-be foreign owner has no dairy farming experience, thus failing the legislative requirement that it have relevant business expertise. The Chinese company, and the Government, aimed to get around this inconvenient law by contracting Landcorp to manage the Crafar Farms. The appellant’s lawyer pointed out that this would set a precedent for future land sales as any “well-resourced overseas conglomerate could come and buy dairy farms in New Zealand provided it had a contract with Landcorp”. This attempt to sugarcoat the bitter pill of loss of yet more of our land could be described as a policy of phony New Zealandisation. Landcorp would be nothing more than a property manager for the Chinese owners.
.
The judge recognised the central fact that the sale would bring no discernible benefit to New Zealand, as required under the Overseas Investment Act, saying that the benefits were likely to accrue regardless of who owns it. “If a given benefit will happen anyway, it cannot easily be described as a substantial consequence of the overseas investment”. Exactly. CAFCA couldn’t have put it better. .

 “any well-resourced overseas conglomerate could come and
 buy dairy farms provided it had a contract with Landcorp”.

CAFCA stresses that the race or nationality of the buyers is irrelevant. Flogging the Crafar Farms overseas is reprehensible regardless of whether the foreign buyers are Chinese, Americans, British or Australians. 
.
But CAFCA doesn’t carry a flag for Sir Michael Fay and his merry men. His track record speaks for itself. If his consortium succeeds in buying the Crafar Farms there is nothing to stop it onselling them overseas for a tidy profit. The opportunity to have the Crafar Farms genuinely stay in local hands was lost when the receivers rejected Landcorp’s bid to buy them outright (as opposed to the booby prize of managing them for a foreign owner).
.
This decision provides a chance to halt this whole policy of flogging off the country’s agricultural land (of which they ain’t making any more), which is New Zealand’s comparative advantage in the global market. New Zealand is, first and foremost, an agricultural country. And we’re very, very good at it, which is why foreign buyers want to snap it up. As a bare minimum first step, freehold sales of such land to foreign buyers should be stopped ASAP, with them only allowed to lease land, as is common practice overseas. And all such leases should be subject to much stricter conditions and scrutiny than is the case now. 
.
CAFCA urges the Government to take the opportunity of this major rebuff to reverse its self-defeating policy of allowing the country to be sold off, farm by farm. Or will it do what it has done in other such judicial defeats and simply change the law in order to get its own way?

.

Download the decision 

Crafar Farms Sale Approval Surprising Only In That It Took So Long To Rubberstamp

.

The announcement yesterday of Ministerial and Overseas Investment Office approval of the sale of the bankrupt Crafar Farms to Chinese buyers is no surprise to the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA). The only surprise is that it took them so long to rubber stamp it. This was all supposed to be a done deal back in 2010 when it was supposed to be sold to the first lot of would be Chinese buyers. That all turned to custard because of an even greater of lack of good character than usual of the company’s principals, who are now facing serious criminal charges in Hong Kong (but nothing in New Zealand, which tells you a lot about the diligence of NZ’s “regulatory” authorities).
.

Sale a “political hot potato” prior to election 

So it became not only an embarrassment but a political hot potato, one which exposed deep rifts within National’s supporters and within the Government itself, at the highest levels. It was parked up out of sight until after the election. But it has still taken a further two months to find the cans of air freshener with which to mask the stink of what is yet another huge sale overseas of New Zealand’s comparative advantage in the global market – prime agricultural land (of which they ain’t making no more).
.
The lily is being gilded by the announcement that Landcorp will manage it on behalf of the Chinese buyers. Everyone knows that there is the world of difference between being the owner and the property manager. Ownership is power; owners make the decisions (including onselling it); owners get the profits. The lily is being further gilded by a number of conditions being attached to it (Labour set the precedent for this in regard to the equally controversial Shania Twain land purchases when it was in office). Conditions such as the buyers remaining of good character (this could be renamed the May Wang clause) and paying millions of dollars to various worthy causes. These should be taken with a well deserved grain of salt. Why? Two words – Kim Dotcom.

Prime Minister “disingenuous”

.
The Prime Minister keeps issuing soothing noises about foreign land purchases only totaling around 1% of the total land area. He is being disingenuous. What is important is what percentage of the total area of productive land is foreign-owned. These statistics are no longer issued by the Overseas Investment Office but when they were, last decade, CAFCA calculated the figure at 7% - and it was never officially denied or disputed. We’ve seen no evidence of that figure having gone down, quite the opposite. Plus the PM is stressing quantity when, once again, the key factor is the quality of the land being flogged off overseas. Foreign buyers are cherry picking, not buying the rubbish (that’s left for the locals).
.
CAFCA stresses that the race of the buyers is irrelevant. Flogging the Crafar Farms overseas is reprehensible regardless of whether the foreign buyers are Chinese, Americans, British or Australians. Despite attempts to reorient the economy into other directions (finance companies, anyone?), New Zealand still remains an agricultural country. And we’re very good at it, which is why foreign buyers want to snap it up. CAFCA doesn’t carry any flag for Michael Fay’s rival bid. All we need say about him is that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. The opportunity to have the Crafar Farms genuinely stay in local hands was lost when the receivers rejected Landcorp’s bid to buy them (which gets the management contract as a consolation prize). The Prime Minister said in 2010, when controversy was raging about the original Chinese proposal to buy these farms; that he didn't want to see New Zealanders become tenants in our own land. A commendable sentiment, one with which CAFCA completely agrees. But yesterday’s decision by his Government ensures that is exactly what is happening.
.

Visit the "Save The Farms" webpage