3. R DOUG WOOLERTON (NZ First) Link to this
to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises
How much land held by State-owned enterprises has been sold since 2000 and what is the total value of any such land that has been sold into foreign ownership?
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister for State Owned Enterprises) Link to this
I am advised that Contact Energy was given a right of first refusal—granted in 1996— for over 381 hectares of State-owned enterprise land, which it is in the process of exercising. I understand that it is proposed that at least some of this land be used for roading and geothermal power generation purposes. The land that this commitment relates to has a market value of $9.261 million. Other than that, I am advised that approximately 33,000 hectares of State-owned enterprise land has been sold since 2000; none of this land has been sold to foreign investors.
Is the Minister satisfied that Landcorp’s practice of selling land with the sole purpose of maximising returns to the Crown is aligned to the will of the New Zealand public, which is growing increasingly nervous about the loss of significant land to foreign investors; if so, why?
Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this
The short answer to the member’s question is no, I am not satisfied that Landcorp’s policy is properly aligned to the wish of New Zealanders. But I would put it more in the terms of the conservation values, recreation values, the retention of some coastal areas in public ownership, and the need to have more reserves, rather than the question of foreign ownership. Actually, I think my colleague the Minister of Finance, Dr Michael Cullen, if he were asked this question, would say that some of the things one can wrap around foreign ownership are a lot tighter than when land is sold to New Zealanders. He could well be right, and it may well be that some of the lessons from that can be imported back into the Landcorp sale processes.
Have changes to the Overseas Investment Act reduced the amount of land being sold by State-owned enterprises into foreign ownership; if not, is he at all concerned that the changes have not worked to ensure the Kiwi way of life is not being flogged off to the highest bidder?
Madam SPEAKERHon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this
Well, I did say in my substantive answer that none had been sold into foreign ownership from State-owned enterprises. If I am asked whether we can reduce that, I suppose we could. We could have Landcorp out there buying from people who have bought in the private sector, but I think that that is probably not really its role at the moment.
Gerry BrownleeHow much additional land does the Minister think the State-owned enterprise New Zealand Post will need to buy in order to get its chain of plastic tiki - selling stores across the country under the banner Real Aotearoa?