Special Report
The coalition government led by National, is ardently wooing foreign investment and ownership says Murray Horton Secretary-Organiser of Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA).
“Regardless of whether it is National or Labour in government, they share a bipartisan agreement that foreign investment is a good thing,” he said writing in CAFCA’s April 2025 issue of “Foreign Control- Watchdog”.
“They only compete about the details of how to make things easier, efficient and more attractive for the foreign investor, the great majority of which are transnational corporations.”
Murray Horton said in 2017 Labour’s Minister of Land Information then Eugenie Sage sought CAFCA’s views as the Overseas Investment Act was being reviewed. But it was a unique occasion, the one and only time.
“Needless to say, talking to CAFCA has never happened since not under Labour’s 2020-23 one party government and certainly not under the present National-New Zealand First-Act government,” he said. “And now this current government plans to change the foreign investment regime yet again.”
Amending the Overseas Investment Act (OIA) was part of Act’s coalition deal with National and in October 2024, Act leader and Associate Minister of Finance David Seymour announced the government is going “to flip the burden of proof” to encourage foreign investment.
Ominous Changes
CAFCA founder and economist Bill Rosenberg said the changes are ominous.
“It retains significant powers and ministerial discretion on what is in the national interest for better or for worse. The main problem is the majority of applications will be fast tracked, there will be no public consultation and it is a rushed process that will give officials insufficient time to consider alternatives.”
The current coalition government has made a number of moves to attract foreign investment such as creating a new agency “Invest New Zealand”
which will be “a new autonomous Crown entity operating with a clear mandate to attract international capital, infrastructure investment, ideas and expertise.”
Murray Horton recalled that former Prime Minister John Key in 2010 relative to the Crafar Farms issue had said the future could see New Zealanders as tenants in their own country and had posed the question “Do we want to be tenants in our own country or do we want to own our own destiny.”
Murray Horton said the “flashiest feature” of Luxon’s sale pitch to the big boys of the money world was his hosting in March 2025 global investment summit.
BlackRock
A key attendee was BlackRock Investments, one of the world’s largest fund managers which drew headlines late last year when it abandoned its investment in rooftop solar electricity provider Solar Zero, citing unsustainable losses.
Among other measures to facilitate the “wholesale flogging off” of New Zealand is the Fast Track Approval regime, turning Marsden Point into a special economic zone where investors get special benefits and virtually no regulatory controls – and establishing similar special economic zones elsewhere.
Murray Horton said Luxon had foreshadowed that more asset sales will be in National’s 2026 election campaign.
“Ironically Luxon’s statement drew a reaction from former National prime minister John Key (January 2025) who knows a thing or two about flogging things off, that frankly there is not a hell of a lot (left) to sell,” said Murray Horton.
“This is the road that the government wants to set New Zealand on to. Of course it’s one we’ve been on for a long time but now they want to speed things up—everything must go!” he said.
Footnote:- “Foreign control Watchdog” is published by CAFCA, e mail <cafca@chch.planet.org.nz>
The horse may have already bolted as the saying goes. An example is the forestry sector. “Forests are a major land use in New Zealand and the forestry sector is reliant upon foreign direct investment with about 70 percent of forests (not land) under some form of overseas ownership.”
Trouble is foreigners come from cultures where the egalitarian culture in unknown. Locked gates are the norm when foreigners take over.
Wooing foreign investors as Luxon is doing is shortsighted. Profits go back overseas and NewZealanders become virtually peasant workers in their own country for the overseas – based landlords/owners.
How Luxon and Seymour will explain to their grandchildren their part in the sell-off??
One can understand why Iwi are investing so much in land and tying it up in trusts. They are better than Pakeha politicians in avoiding becoming tenants on their own land. It is quickly becoming a myth that New Zealand is a sovereign nation. We are becoming a series of branch offices for foreign corporations from banks, to supermarkets, to food processing companies, to mining giants, and so on.
Well, you keep voting for these bastards.
Foreign Investment Aotearoa, shouldn’t that be ( New Zealand ) I live in New Zealand, can not recollect our country name being officially changedthe use of this term is not only frustrating, but disrespectful.
Selling of New Zealand assets haas been happing for as long as I can remember, this current government are making no secret about selling of what’s left.
We would be naive to believe that there would not be countless politicians with bulging pockets after they’ve finished.
“Bulging pockets” of MPs…if the truth could be uncovered, it could be a ‘shocker’.
I wonder if they have a conscience to feel guilty as they chat to their grandchildren?
I remember Bolger and his finance minister Bill Birch holding APEC conference in NZ, in 1990s and openly urging foreigners to come a buy up at large. Garrick Tremain did a priceless cartoon on it.
There isn’t too many countries in the world dumb as a plank and selling their lands to foreigners.
Why I ask is NZ so thick ?. Once gone our lands will never be returned. Ban foreign investment now