Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) has released figures on recent foreign investment into New Zealand following government’s recent Investment Summit where it courted wealthy overseas interests.
“Who Owns Aotearoa? CAFCA’s Key Facts A Reality Check To Accompany Luxon’s “Everything Must Go!” Sale AKA Investment Summit,” headlined CAFCA’s release of figures.
Among the statistics, it was revealed foreign direct investment (ownership of companies in New Zealand increased from $15.7 billion in March 1989 to $171 billion in March 2024 – nearly 11 times.
In 2024 the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approved the sale of of 149,185 hectares of land or interests in land – such as leasing or forestry rights – to foreigners.
This is a substantial increase on 2023, when the sale of 49,000 hectares was approved. However is near the average for the decade 2015-2024 of 141,564 hectares.
“Statistics of sales of land to overseas interests are poorly recorded and incomplete,” said CAFCA. “Our best estimate is that in 2011 at least 8.7% of New Zealand farmland including plantation forestry or 1.3 million hectares, was foreign owned or controlled.
Murray Horton of CAFCA said “the statistics tell their own story about the relentless takeover of NZ businesses and land by transnational corporations and other foreign buyers. This Government seeks to accelerate the process via things like the Investment Summit.”
Meanwhile Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said following the Investment Summit, government wanted more foreign investment.
“They’ve come from all over the world (and manage $6 trillion between them) to hear about the opportunities New Zealand has, and I want them to see the same potential in our country that I see,” he said.
Footnote: For more information on CAFCA, and joining/subscribing google CAFCA.
Anyone opposing foreign ownership is name called “xenophobic” i.e dislike of foreigners.
I prefer the term “patriotic” instead, meaning a loyalty to New Zealand.
Luxon is being naive (not surprising) in thinking foreign investors have New Zealand’s best interests at heart.
When foreign investment is mentioned it is invariably the corporate model.
Corporations are inherently dishonest, self serving, and often unashamedly corrupt.
The entire purpose behind the corporate model, is to maximise profit and yet be excused from any and all of the responsibility that goes towards the society they exploit and usually the environment.
With foreign investment , can go ‘back handers’. I agree, there is nothing wrong with opposing foreign ownership or investment. Indeed it is patriotic.
Basically wooing overseas investment, is a sell-out of NZ. Luxon’s doing it helped by the likes of Willis, Jones, Bishop – all unpatriotic. How will they answer to their grandchildren in the years ahead?
But then Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley and Bill Birch did the same. Remember their APEC conference just like Luxon’s Investment Summit?
And we knighted Birch and Shipley!
But then, we the people had no say.
Funny, but I used to think that the politicians we elected were there to represent us and make decisions in the our best interests and the best interests of our country, called by the way New Zealand. I used to think that people who operated in a way that betrayed our best interests were called treasonous – somewhere along the way I must have got them mixed up.
Totally agree, Alex Gale.
There is a joke about the factory of the future having two employees – a man and a dog. The man is there to feed the dog .. and the dog is there to make sure the man doesn’t touch any of the equipment.
Governments of ye future should be comprised of politicians .. and a Security Detail, independently answerable to the people.
The politicians should be there to look after what we originally put them there to do. That is, provision of our shared public services (transportation / roads, education, health, justice, utilities etc). And the Security Detail should be there to make sure they don’t touch anything else .. and otherwise stay out of our lives, as much as possible.
The biggest problems with our democratically-elected government are:
(1) their self-created sense of their own omnipotence;
(2) the wildly swinging pendulum between the ideologically-based policies of successive governments; and
(3) their over-reach in terms of interference in our lives .. in ways we do never intended, and do not want.