Source: Greenpeace
During today’s public submission hearings on the ACT Party’s Overseas Investment Amendment Bill, Greenpeace took direct aim at NZ First, highlighting the hypocrisy of NZ First’s support for the Bill at first reading – despite its long-standing opposition to foreign ownership. The party’s sole representative was notably absent for most of the hearing.
Greenpeace accused the party of abandoning its values and backing a law that would see some of the country’s most ecologically sensitive land sold to multinational corporations, even if those corporations have a criminal history and have broken environmental laws in other jurisdictions.
“If NZ First does bend the knee to another of ACT’s ideological policies then so be it,” said Toop. “The voters’ cards will fall as they may, and they may very well fall under 5%, but that will be the bed that NZ First makes for itself by signing up to a Bill that would see New Zealand being sold off to the highest bidding foreign corporation.”
The organisation opposed the bill on several grounds including that it removes the requirement that the Government check whether a foreign buyer of sensitive land has committed serious crimes abroad, such as breaking environmental or labour laws, or evading paying taxes.
Sensitive land is outlined in Schedule 1 of the Bill and includes the conservation estate, offshore islands, lake beds, the marine and coastal zone, wāhi tapu and other culturally significant sites, and land adjoining these areas.
“The Bill makes it harder for the government to decline the sale of lake beds, offshore islands and the conservation estate to multinational corporate cowboys,” says Toop.
“If this Bill is enacted the Government will no longer be able to impose the bare minimum of environmental conditions on the sale, things like biodiversity protection, heritage preservation, and allowing ongoing public access to public lands.”
The organisation also condemned the move to scrap the special tests for foreign forestry investment, pointing out that much of the devastation caused by the forestry slash and erosion, such as during Cyclone Gabrielle, is caused by foreign-owned forestry companies.
Toop pointed out that Global Forest Partners, the 8th largest landowner in New Zealand in 2019 was registered in the Cayman Islands and asked whether the committee thought the forest industry had paid their fair share to rebuild bridges and roads destroyed by their industry.
She suggested they hadn’t and “were instead metaphorically – or literally – bathing in the Cayman Islands’ warm, tax-free waters while New Zealand taxpayers footed the clean-up bill.”
“Greenpeace believes that all corporations, whether New Zealand owned or overseas owned, should be regulated to ensure that they don’t harm the environment, but the Overseas Investment Act currently provides an additional tool that enables the Government to regulate overseas corporations, in particular, to achieve better environmental and community outcomes.”
“It is simply not reasonable to pass an amendment bill that says offshore forestry investments – which have already brought such demonstrable harm to the country – will receive less scrutiny and have fewer conditions imposed on them,” Toop said.
In a pointed moment during the hearing, Toop held up a placard reading NO, referencing Winston Peters’ infamous “NO” placard and stated: “If the NZ First member of the committee had shown up he might recall that sign. Or perhaps it’s been forgotten – as NZ First does seem to have forgotten a few things lately, like what it is they purportedly stand for.”
“This ACT party bill literally removes the benefit to New Zealand test so that it is easier to sell off New Zealand to multinational corporations. You’ll have to forgive me for failing to see how that, by any stretch of the imagination, puts NZ First.”
Toop also criticised the Government’s rushed consultation process – with the Government only allowing five hours of oral submissions on the Bill, all via Zoom.
“It is undemocratic, but it’s not surprising – especially from a Government who recently engaged in voter suppression. Add to that the new FBI office in our capital city, and you’d be forgiven for thinking you hadn’t woken up in Aotearoa – you’d woken up in Trump’s America.”
Greenpeace urged the Committee to reject David Seymour’s Bill and Toop ended by asking:
“Is it really too much to ask that this Government start governing for New Zealanders, not governing in service of foreign corporations and their offshore shareholders?”
