By Tony Field
The 16 Crafar dairy farms are no longer the Chinese farms.
The High Court has ordered the Government to reconsider its decision approving their sale to foreign owners.
The decision follows a legal challenge by a group of farmers and iwi, led by Sir Michael Fay.
They argued, successfully, that the Overseas Investment Office had overstated the benefits of selling the farms to a Chinese firm.
The High Court's decision is a slap in the face for the Government and a victory for Sir Fay’s consortium.
Consortium spokesman Alan MacDonald says they are really pleased that the High Court decision has confirmed “our view that there was no economic benefit, or additional economic benefit, to come out of this transaction”.
“We have always felt that it was not in the best economic interests of New Zealanders,” says Mr MacDonald.
Two government ministers, Maurice Williamson and Jonathan Coleman, signed off on the sale last month after the deal was recommended by the OIO.
However, the High Court says the OIO failed to consider whether the Chinese buyers would bring any more economic benefit than if the farms were sold to a local buyer.
The decision left the Prime Minister under attack in Parliament.
Labour leader David Shearer asked how Prime Minister John Key can express confidence in the ministers when the judge “roped in paragraph 57 that the error was not a mere technicality”, and the economic benefits caused by the overseas investment were “materially overstated?”
Mr Key says that is the opinion of the judge, “just before everybody gets a little excited here”.
“The OIO will have to go back and reconsider the decision in light of the ruling and its possible the OIO will come up with the same recommendations and ministers will continue to accept it,” says Mr Key.
It is a setback for the Government that the opposition has leapt on.
Green Party co-leader Russel Norman says it is real progress.
“It means that New Zealand buyers of land get a fair go. In the past they didn’t get an even chance because overseas buyers were put at the head of the queue.”
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says it is a failure “to do their duty by their ministerial post, by the law and by their country”.
“They spend nine months, put it beyond the election, make the wrong decision the OIO did, and then two docile ministers rubber stamped it.”
The consortium led by Sir Fay is also still in the running.
“The legal team and the buying group are considering the full implications of the judgment and having a close look at it,” says Mr MacDonald. “But our offer has never gone away.”
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