Over the weekend, David Seymour announced the government’s plans to “overhaul” the Overseas Investment Act.
The Act looks after overseas investments in sensitive assets in New Zealand. Its main purpose is balancing foreign money in our sensitive assets/lands/fisheries/forestries with the risks associated with that.
This includes considering New Zealand’s national and economic security
In other words, very standard foreign investment rules and criteria - and always weighed up against Kiwi interests.
But, over the last year, accompanied by go-to words like “economic growth,” and “too hard for investors”, this government has been progressively softening NZ up to make it very easy for foreigners to snap it up.
Yesterday, Seymour said decisions on overseas investments would be “hastened” to 15 days, and would only take longer if it was residential, fisheries, or farm land.
But most home residential applications are already completed quickly - 10 days, to 30 days if it’s sensitive land.
To cut a large proportion of other applications to 15 days is an extraordinarily fast turnaround, especially when it comes to evaluating NZ’s economic security and national security risks.
But it all makes sense once you look at how Seymour is achieving this.
In June of 2024, Seymour instructed LINZ to complete 80% of applications within half of the statutory timeline.
This is measured at the top level - so regardless of the category - whether fishing quotas, forestry, homes to live in (including sensitive lands) etc. - LINZ staff are being pressured to pick and choose where to devote their attention.
The government calls this a “risk based approach” - which is corporate language, and in this case manipulated into bullshit, masking as sense.
If that sounds opaque, consider how David Seymour worded and sold his school lunches program - see my other article today.
These are the current statutory timelines for foreign investment:
To bring 80% of applications to half of the statutory timeline, and to pressure LINZ to complete a significant applications within 15 days appears ill-advised, given due diligence is critical to safeguarding NZ’s interests.
Then consider this against the backdrop of the government cutting staff and constraining budgets and pay across government departments.
74 net positions were cut from LINZ just last year by Nicola Willis’s budget.
i.e. Go faster, approve quicker, with less staff of matters of national security and NZ’s economic security.
What could go wrong?
These factors do not appear important to the sitting government though.
Under Minister Seymour’s directive to Land Information NZ (“LINZ”,) NZ shouldn’t even bother with a risk assessment in the vast majority of cases.
LINZ should also “only seek to verify information” if there is a specific reason to suspect the information is unreliable.
And staff must “rely on statutory declarations [from foreigners etc.]….as verification of the information provided”.
Has this government not heard of the words “fraud” or “counterfeit”?
Further, Seymour directs investigation is unnecessary unless there is a specific cause to suspect the information is unreliable.
Even when there is cause to suspect our national security is at risk, Seymour directs that the case must be resolved in a relatively short timeframe for its category (55 days) AND no assessment of the benefits to NZ need be considered.
Unless it goes to the Minister, in which case the Minister will make the final call.
Everything seems to pivot around what’s good for investors - and not what impact it will have on New Zealand.
They direct LINZ to pivot around minimizing “compliance costs on investors”, rather the considering benefits to New Zealanders.
In a nutshell, to my reading, everything in Seymour’s ministerial instructions scream: “Open the front door and let them in. Quickly.”
Is it any wonder that a survey late last year revealed foreigners feel that right now:
“New Zealand assets are cheap because there isn’t a lot of competition for them, the economy is weak and, on the flipside, recouping the cost of the investment is relatively easy from New Zealand consumers.”
i.e. Kiwis are seen as easy fodder to make money from with a business and foreign friendly government at the helm.
And the fire sale of our assets is open.
Anyone who thinks this is an ACT Party push is sorely mistaken.
It’s backed to the hilt by a foreign money salivating Prime Minister, an ex-tobacco man whose father helped set up Taxpayers Unions i.e. Chris Bishop, and New Zealand First.
The latter of which are soft walking Kiwis to announcing that NZ First could be very comfortable with NZ houses sold to wealthy foreigners so long as there is, you guessed it, “significant economic benefit” to the country.
Except for all apparent purposes - the word “country” may have to be replaced
More Games To Benefit Vested Interests
In further revelations under this government, Newsroom’s Fox Meyer reports that Fast-Track Ministers Chris Bishop, Shane Jones and Simeon Brown personally nominated 97 fast-track projects, personal picks that this government previously denied even existed.
And that comes on top of news (not found anywhere on any front page of Stuff or NZME) that the government intentionally broke rules to pass the fast-track bill that benefits private companies - and is disallowed under NZ parliamentary rules.
Is this corruption?
Is this us, Aotearoa New Zealand?
Yes, it is corruption and it is, us.
Keep up the good work, much respect!
Absolutely corruption. How has one person obtained that much power?