Overseas Investment Office

Last updated

Overseas Investment Office
Agency overview
Jurisdiction New Zealand
HeadquartersRadio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace, Wellington
41°16′53″S174°46′33″E / 41.281299°S 174.775862°E / -41.281299; 174.775862
Ministers responsible
Parent agency Land Information New Zealand
Website www.linz.govt.nz/overseas-investment/

The Overseas Investment Office is the New Zealand government agency responsible for regulating foreign direct investment into New Zealand.

Contents

The Office is responsible for high value investments (2006: NZD $100m+), investments in sensitive land and investments in fishing quota. The Office is part of Land Information New Zealand, the New Zealand Government Agency responsible for survey, land valuation, land titles and mapping. This link recognises that the majority of the Office's work relates to the control of sensitive land. The Office replaces an earlier agency called the Overseas Investment Commission.

History

The Overseas Investment Commission (OIC), established in 1973, imposed certain limitations on foreign investment. [1] OIC consent was required for foreign investments that would control 25% or more of businesses or property worth more than NZ$10 million. Restrictions and approval requirements also applied to certain investments in land and in the commercial fishing industry.

In August 2005, the Commission was abolished and replaced with a scaled-down Overseas Investment Office. The rules were relaxed so that intervention by the OIO is only required when foreign investment involves expenditure of more than $100 million. In its first year of existence, the OIO approved $14.3 billion in sales to foreign buyers – double the yearly average in the previous decade. By 2013 foreign ownership in New Zealand had increased dramatically from $9.7 billion in 1989 to $101.4 billion – an increase of over 1,000%. [2] Between 1989 and 2007, foreign ownership of the New Zealand sharemarket went from 19% to 41% but has since dropped back to 33%.

Public concerns

The agency has been accused by groups like the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa as being a 'rubber-stamping' body doing nothing against increasing foreign control over New Zealand assets. In 2007 spokesman Murray Horton said the sale of large farms to foreign buyers, including the high country station bought by Canadian country singer Shania Twain, drives up prices and makes it harder for young New Zealanders to become farmers. [3]

In 2009, Wanganui brothers Allan and Frank Crafar owned 18 dairy farms and had 20,000 cows, making them New Zealand's largest family owned dairy business. [4] Following allegations of animal cruelty, they went into receivership. In 2012, 16 of their farms in the North Island were sold to a Chinese company Pengxin International Group Limited. Polls done since the sale of the Crafar Farms show an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders were worried about land sales to foreign buyers. By August 2014 the Overseas Investment Office had received a further 33 applications by foreigners to buy large blocks of farmland. They were all approved. [5]

In 2016 further concerns were raised when it was revealed the OIO failed to vet two overseas buyers, Rafael and Federico Grozovsky, who bought a farm in Onetai for $6 million. The sale was approved by the OIO in 2014 but the agency was unaware the brothers who bought the property were convicted of polluting a river in Argentina in 2012. [6] The pollution was caused by toxic chemicals from a tannery company the brothers owned. In response to these revelations, John Key announced the OIO would increase its fees, allowing it to increase its staffing by 25% so that it could perform its checks on applicants more effectively. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters commented: "It's a disgrace – this is 2016 and we've had a rubber stamp operation going back almost two decades." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of New Zealand</span>

The economy of New Zealand is a highly developed free-market economy. It is the 52nd-largest national economy in the world when measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 62nd-largest in the world when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). New Zealand has a large GDP for its population of 5 million, and sources of revenue are spread throughout the large island nation. The country has one of the most globalised economies and depends greatly on international trade, mainly with Australia, China, the European Union, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United States. New Zealand's 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia means that the economy aligns closely with that of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fonterra</span> New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative

Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ $22 billion, making it New Zealand's largest company. It is the sixth-largest dairy company in the world as of 2022, as well as the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Overseas Investment Commission was a New Zealand government agency responsible for regulating foreign direct investment into New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Diemen's Land Company</span> Farming corporation

The Van Diemen's Land Company is a farming corporation in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was founded in 1825 and received a royal charter the same year, and was granted 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) in northwest Van Diemen's Land in 1826. The company was a group of London merchants who planned a wool growing venture to supply the needs of the British textile industry.

Michael Craig Norgate was a New Zealand accountant and business leader in agricultural processing, marketing and related areas. He had a career as chief executive officer (CEO) of dairy companies Kiwi Co-operative Dairies and Fonterra Co-operative Group, before consolidating the rural servicing industry through PGG Wrightson. His attempt to drive similar changes in the meat industry coincided with the advent of the global financial crisis and resulted in significant losses both for PGG Wrightson and his own private equity company.

The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (CAFCA) is a research and lobbying organisation combatting what it considers the sell-out of New Zealand companies and assets to overseas interests. The organisation evolved from the then-named Campaign Against Foreign Control in New Zealand which began in the early 1970s.

In New Zealand "dirty dairying" refers to damage to the ecological health of New Zealand's freshwater environment by the intensification of dairy farming, and also to the high profile campaign begun in 2002 by the Fish and Game Council to highlight and combat this.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agriculture in New Zealand</span> Overview of agriculture in New Zealand

In New Zealand, agriculture is the largest sector of the tradable economy. The country exported NZ$46.4 billion worth of agricultural products in the 12 months to June 2019, 79.6% of the country's total exported goods. The agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector directly contributed $12.653 billion of the national GDP in the 12 months to September 2020, and employed 143,000 people, 5.9% of New Zealand's workforce, as of the 2018 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dairy farming in New Zealand</span> Overview article

Dairy farming in New Zealand began during the early days of colonisation by Europeans. The New Zealand dairy industry is based almost exclusively on cattle, with a population of 4.92 million milking cows in the 2019-20 season. The income from dairy farming is now a major part of the New Zealand economy, becoming an NZ$13.4 billion industry by 2017.

CraFarms is a group of companies of which Allan, Beth and Frank Crafar were Directors. Crafar Farms was New Zealand's largest family-owned dairy business. The family business owned 22 dry stock and dairy farms with approximately 20,000 cows in various regions of the North Island, and was put into receivership in October 2009. Crafar Farms was involved in multiple prosecutions for pollution offences and incidents of poor animal welfare from 2007 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Z Energy</span> New Zealand fuel station chain owned by Australian Ampol

Z Energy is a New Zealand fuel distributor with branded service stations. It comprises some of the former assets of Shell New Zealand and Chevron New Zealand. Shell left the New Zealand fuel distribution business in April 2010, selling its operations to Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. The former Shell operations were rebranded as Z Energy in 2011. Since May 2022, it is a subsidiary of Australian petroleum company Ampol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan Hubbard (businessman)</span> New Zealand businessman

Allan James Hubbard was a businessman who lived in Timaru in the South Island of New Zealand, and was the founder of South Canterbury Finance, New Zealand's largest locally owned finance company. In 2006, the New Zealand Listener described Hubbard as the most powerful businessman in the South Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Cameron</span> New Zealand-Australian businesswoman

Jan Cameron is a New Zealand-Australian businesswoman and formerly Australia's fourth-richest woman. She made her fortune as the founder of the Kathmandu clothing and outdoor equipment company. She currently lives in Bicheno, Tasmania. She runs various companies and business interests, which together span Britain, New Zealand and Australia. She is a philanthropist and supporter of animal welfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synlait</span> Milk nutrition company in New Zealand

Synlait Milk is a New Zealand milk nutrition company with in New Zealand and overseas. Its headquarters is in Dunsandel, Canterbury. Synlait has additional manufacturing sites in Auckland and Pokeno, an administration office in Christchurch, and a Research and Development Centre in Palmerston North. As well as the Talbot Forest cheese factory in Temuka. It also owns Dairyworks which is a dairy product manufacturer based in Christchurch. Overseas, Synlait has an office in Beijing, and in Shanghai. The company manufactures infant formula, liquid dairy ingredient, and nutritional milk powders.

South Canterbury Finance was New Zealand's largest locally owned finance company when it collapsed in August 2010, triggering a $1.6 billion bail-out of investors deposits by the New Zealand Government; almost $1 billion was recovered by receivers.

Beijing Capital Group Co., Ltd., also known as BCG or the Capital Group, is a state-owned real estate enterprise directly under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the Beijing Municipality. The Beijing Capital Group Co. was incorporated in 1994 and is primarily a real estate firm. Headquartered in Beijing, BCG has a business network covering China as well as overseas markets, five listed subsidiaries, and total assets of over RMB 180 billion.

The property bubble in New Zealand is a major national economic and social issue. Since the early 1990s, house prices in New Zealand have risen considerably faster than incomes, putting increasing pressure on public housing providers as fewer households have access to housing on the private market. The property bubble has produced significant impacts on inequality in New Zealand, which now has one of the highest homelessness rate in the OECD and a record-high waiting list for public housing. Government policies have attempted to address the crisis since 2013, but have produced limited impacts to reduce prices or increase the supply of affordable housing. However, prices started falling in 2022 in response to tightening of mortgage availability and supply increasing. Some areas saw drops as high as around 9% - albeit from very high prices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018</span> Act of Parliament in New Zealand

The Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2018 is a New Zealand bill that amends the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to ban most non-resident foreigners from buying existing houses, by classifying them as sensitive land and introducing a residency test. Australian citizens are exempt from this rule as they are considered New Zealand residents per the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. Singaporean citizens are also exempt due to free trade rules. The Overseas Investment Amendment Act was supported by the Labour–led coalition government but was opposed by the opposition centre-right National and libertarian ACT parties. It passed its third reading on 15 August 2018 and received royal assent on 22 August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ANZCO Foods</span> New Zealand meat producer

ANZCO Foods or simply ANZCO is a New Zealand meat producer fully owned by the Japanese company Itoham Foods, which in turn is part of Itoham Yonekyu Holdings. In 2016, ANZCO Foods was New Zealand's fifth-largest exporter, with a turnover of NZ$1.5b, and 3,000 employees.

Damien Francis Smith is a former New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament for ACT New Zealand from 2020 until 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Overseas Investment Commission, Ministry of Justice
  2. ↑ Who Owns NZ? Foreign Control Key Facts Updated, Scoop 7 January 2014
  3. ↑ Gay, Edward (1 November 2007). "US buyer snaps up Coromandel jewel". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  4. ↑ Bernard Hickey (5 October 2009). "Crafar Farms put into receivership owing NZ$200m". The New Zealand Herald.
  5. ↑ NZ land on the block: Are the politicians listening? The New Zealand Herald, 27 August 2014
  6. ↑ "OIO faces 'independent review' following Onetai farm sale".
  7. ↑ "OIO staffing boost criticised as too late".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.