Little Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 21 October 2015. Volume:709;Page:7419. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]1.ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Given his answer to Oral Question No. 2 yesterday why doesn’t he want to see “excessive rural land sold to overseas buyers” and see New Zealanders become tenants in our own country?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): It is a matter of striking the appropriate balance. As I said this Government wants New Zealand to be open to the world. We welcome investment that supports jobs and growth in New Zealand. At the same time we have protected New Zealand’s interests by allowing Ministers to consider a wide range of issues when assessing overseas investment in sensitive land and emphasising that jobs are in New Zealand’s economic interests. That is why we have seen the rate of approval for net land sales to foreign buyers fall from an average of 68682.7 hectares per year under Labour and David Parker to 35841.7 under this Government. We think our approach is more effective than setting up a new Chinese-sounding name inspectorate within the Overseas Investment Office.Andrew Little: Given that in just 5 years his Government has approved the sale of land bigger than the combined area of Auckland Christchurch Dunedin Hamilton Hastings Napier Palmerston North Tauranga Wellington Whangarei Invercargill and New Plymouth twice over how much more land does he expect to approve for sale in the next 2 years?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I suspect the Leader of the Opposition is making that up because yesterday he came into Parliament and said that we had sold 250000 hectares since July 2010. I suspect that is the basis of the diatribe he has just come into Parliament with which is just plain wrong because by the way it includes leases not sales; rollover of leases; and where things are sold to a consortium including New Zealanders. The number is actually 40 percent of Mr Little’s made-up number and it is half what Labour sold. The problem is not National—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The answer is now going on—Andrew Little: Given that he has been in charge for 7 years is it not time for him to take responsibility for his own actions rather than acting as if he is playing in the playground?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: This is a Government that on a net basis sold half of what Labour did. This is a Government that in office actually sent new directives—Dr David Clark: 7 long years.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Yeah well there might be more if the way you keep going is having policies twice as bad as ours. So this is a Government that directed the Overseas Investment Office with two new considerations under the benefits test including an economic interest factor and a new mitigating factor. Every time the Leader of the Opposition comes to Parliament he comes arguing about something we are doing when the record of Labour in Government was worse. You need to find—Mr SPEAKER: Order!Andrew Little: At what point does he believe too much of our land has been sold? How much is too much?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: When David Parker is responsible for it and twice as much is sold.Tim Macindoe: What reports has the Prime Minister seen supporting the role foreign investment plays in supporting growth and jobs in New Zealand?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I have seen a couple of reports in recent months both strongly supporting the role foreign investors play in supporting jobs and growth. The first said: “Well I’m not anti - foreign investment. I think we’re a country that’s been built on foreign direct investment.” The second report called for—get this—more foreign investment in manufacturing and in the regions. “Either State investment—Government investment—or foreign direct investment yeah. I mean both should complement each other.” That was Andrew Little before he became No. 8. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! Supplementary question—Andrew Little.Andrew Little: Thank you Mr Speaker. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Hon Paula Bennett if she wants to remain for question time will stop interjecting when I have asked for silence for this question.Andrew Little: Bringing the question back to the topic of the primary question which is on land sales what specific evidence does he have that the land sales that have happened under his watch have created jobs in light of the fact that the Overseas Investment Office has failed to collect any evidence of job creation?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The first thing I would say is that it has taken place at half the rate it did under the previous Government. Secondly actually this is the Overseas Investment Office that is controlled by the Overseas Investment Act which was actually passed by the Labour Government in 2005. Thirdly I think it is plain for anyone to see that jobs are either created or saved and I challenge the member to go down to the CraFarm farms and go and have a look and see whether Shanghai Pengxin has created more jobs or fewer jobs. Go and have a look.Andrew Little: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That question related to the evidence that the Prime Minister had about job creation—Mr SPEAKER: I am going to invite the question to be asked again.Andrew Little: What specific evidence does he have that the land sales that have occurred under his watch have created jobs in light of the fact that the Overseas Investment Office has failed to collect any evidence of job creation?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: The applications that were lodged at the time the purchases were made.Andrew Little: If he really thinks it is bad for us to become tenants in our own land why is his Government doing nothing to prevent these sales or is it just more hollow words from a hollow Prime Minister?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: This would all be believable if the numbers were the other way round but this is the Leader of the Opposition whose Labour Party policies sold twice as much land. That is it. You do not need to know any more than that.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Why is the Prime Minister hiding behind the defence that the information is confusing or not present and yet he opposes New Zealand First’s far-sighted Land Transfer (Foreign Ownership of Land Register) Amendment Bill which has international precedent?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: We are not hiding behind any information. The information is clear: twice as much land was sold on a net basis under Labour.Andrew Little: Is it the truth that he will talk the talk but he will not walk the walk and that he does not actually care about us becoming tenants in our own land and that is why he continues to rubber-stamp land sales?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Here are the facts: under Labour net sensitive lands approved for sale was 68682.7 hectares per year. Under National it has been 35841. So why do we have this line of questioning this week? It is hardly the biggest line. I will tell you why: it is because Labour has invested some of its leader’s budget into a new pamphlet it has put out there because the Leader of the Opposition is on 8 percent and no one—Mr SPEAKER: Order! You are deviating a long way from the answer now.