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Public against Crafar sale to Chinese

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Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:20p.m.

Polling for the Michael Fay-led consortium trying to buy the Crafar dairy farms shows an overwhelming desire for the government to stop the sale to China's Pengxin International.

However, the same poll shows two-thirds support for joint venture investments involving a combination of Chinese and New Zealand interests.

The poll, conducted by UMR Research, comes as Labour's associate finance spokesman David Parker accuses the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) of buckling to political pressure not to announce a decision on the Crafar farm sale before Saturday's election.

"On the face of it, there's no reason the Overseas Investment Office could not have made a decision. So why hasn't it?" he said.

A well-established and reputable investor in China and globally, Pengxin is seen by the investment community and by the Chinese government as a fundamental test of the New Zealand-China trade relationship.

Senior investment banking figures have warned that rejection of the Pengxin bid could see a withdrawal of Chinese interest in New Zealand investments, and a cooling in Beijing to New Zealand's aspirations in China.

The OIO and Prime Minister John Key have both described the Pengxin bid as "complex", but have given no further detail as to why the application has run so far beyond the OIO's target timeframe for approvals.

The UMR poll also finds the public would "prefer the farms are sold to a New Zealand syndicate even if at a lower price".

The Fay consortium, which includes some iwi and private investors, is offering $170 million for the Crafar farms, in receivership, against Pengxin's offer in excess of $200 million.

The receivers, KordaMentha, have accepted the Pengxin bid, conditional on OIO approval and have said they will not entertain alternatives in the interim.

The UMR poll found 82 per cent of people viewed foreign ownership of agricultural land as "a bad thing".

NZN

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Comments

21 Apr 2012 11:52a.m.

Thomas wrote:

We often hear comments in regard to the fact that the Chinese are being targeted in a rascist way in regard to these farm sales whereas many don't have those same concerns when land or farm sales take place to the Germans, British, Americans etc etc..but one should know that the Chinese situation is different in that they are huge & powerful international players nowadays, buying up land all over the world like no one else with a most likely agenda as they seem to be running out of land in their own country.

26 Jan 2012 09:38a.m.

home sweet home wrote:

Shame on you National voters…you knew these arrogant bastards don’t give a crap... neither about public opinion, nor about our rights to our land, and certainly not about this country..and yet voted for them!

25 Jan 2012 11:57p.m.

Morgan wrote:

to New Zealanders who against selling farm to foreigners, Communist New Zealand!

24 Jan 2012 04:05p.m.

Brendan wrote:

I am opposed to the sale of any more new zealand farmland to overseas buyers. What chance will young new zealand farmers and generations to come have if this continues. Prices are being pushed up further out of reach by overseas buyers and organisations only too happy to encourage farmers to borrow more and lend money out irresponsibly.

14 Dec 2011 12:36p.m.

Njoative@gmail.com wrote:

I agree as the prime minister said(key) we should not be tenents in ou our own country!..we have not realised the chinese are communists with only profits for chinese as their agenda!.as history has dictated concerning the chinese in our country since the 1880's(the excluson act/poll tax) the chinese weren't welcome or made to feel they excepted in our country because our forefathers knew what is happening now would happen if the communists were given free regein!..yes trade with them but don't ever sell out to them!..keep all farms in nz hands,we need to take the fay offer!.

27 Nov 2011 12:16a.m.

Hamish wrote:

@Tony, because the Nat govt dont give a shit, they work for foriegn investment, and as the NZ people have chosen National to lead so do we.
Nat supporters remember this time! National campainged on asset sales, not liabilities but assets. Dont ever forget what you voted for, We wont.

23 Nov 2011 10:29p.m.

Paul wrote:

I'd be happy to buy some shares in these farms as I think many other kiwis would. Throw it out there for NZ residents to buy some shares in this company and any profits would filter back into the system. Also nothing to stop the chinese taking the dairy herds back to china, and we dont want any animals going there with their record of animal abuse.

23 Nov 2011 05:00p.m.

tony wrote:

Is the $200million a fair price for those farmlands? if it is, why not we new Zealanders (govt) come forward with the money to stop the Chinese/Americans buying it? Why the land owners have to be suffered to accept a lower offer? I think we need a fair go here. if we want to stop the sale of all farmlands, do it next time to change the legislation.

23 Nov 2011 03:51p.m.

Julie Ford wrote:

Logs are our 3rd biggest export they are going offshore in an unprocessed state whereas we should be finishing off the process ourselves and then selling them overseas. In that instance, the foreign purchaser is providing work and profit to the end product for their own advantage. With regard to the Crafar farms, these are huge tracts of land not just in the Waikato but in the Tarananki district and make up a substantial profit regarding milk to this country. We're only a small nation and need every $ to keep our economy afloat. China is a very rich, huge country so one or two little farmlets are nothing. I'm sure there are only a few minor dairy farms in China & Sth America and their governments would not be selling huge tracts of their land to NZ or another country, we have the dairy expertise in NZ, lead the world, and that must remain. Also, we know the Chinese company is backed by their govt which is a communist country, they will not be happy with just one major purchase but will insist they want more which is how they do business. Their system of government is completely foreign to our western culture, they can call the shots just like in other countries. Profits and jobs will be going offshore and may employ foreign workers instead of our own. However, this is our land and many kiwis are totally opposed to this sale. This govt should be listening.

23 Nov 2011 02:13p.m.

JD wrote:

Hello, 90% of all the plantation forestry land in this country is under foreign ownership, be it the Americans, Chinese or Japanese. We are not talking about a couple of thousand hectares of grassy cow paddocks, but rather hundreds of thousands of hectares of trees and the land underneath from Northland down to Southland. Sure some profits go off shore, but the bulk of the returns are directly beneficial to NZ, through the hundreds of direct and indirect business associated with forestry and the revenues they produce. Whats the difference with Chinese ownership of a few dairy farms, after all, there are NZ owned dairy managed business in China, South America etc, should we insist they withdraw and return to NZ?