Webb DuncanDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Thank you Madam Speaker. What a ridiculous speech that was. It didn't even touch on the bill; just a series of swipes at the Labour Party's policy on overseas investment one which while slightly different is largely congruent with that of the National Party in any event.Historically the National Party has been very keen on protecting our strategic assets and that's what the Overseas Investment Act does. Let's just think for a moment if we exempt OECD countries from the Overseas Investment Act what that actually means. That means that strategic assets things like our broadband network could be bought by overseas countries. That is an asset which carries data of all New Zealanders and all Government agencies. So the Government of Colombia could buy our fibre assets. The Government of Colombia could be transmitting our most precious secrets for us. That's what it means. That's what the ACT Party wants. That's what the National Party is supporting.If we didn't have this protection our treasured high-country stations of the South Island could fall—[Interruption] Yeah and here we have a party which has fought long and hard around the high-country reforms and yet here they are saying Don't worry about it. Anyone can buy them. Let the President of Turkey buy them. He belongs to an OECD country. He can buy it." What an absolutely fatuous unprincipled and frankly undermining position that is. You would sell the family jewels to anyone around the world. All we're asking is that if someone wants to come and invest in New Zealand are they a person of good character is this asset a strategic asset and are there any security risks involved? That's the principles that underpin the Overseas Investment Act and you would say "No."So sure we might feel we're in pretty safe ground with some of our OECD partners you know Western European nations that have similar values. Oh but did you know that Russia and Belarus were only recently suspended from the OECD? They're two nations which have been participating in the OECD. And here you are they will be back in the fold quite likely when peace breaks out in Ukraine which we hope it all will soon of course. But that's what you're doing. You're just a knee-jerk reaction. I suppose they're doing it to grandstand. I suppose they're doing it because they know that this ridiculous bill is never going to see the light of day under any responsible Government. But I want New Zealand to think about what that means because if they get into Government in the future what will they do with our national assets? What will they do with our high-country farms? Our best farmland? The farmland that feeds New Zealand and much of the world will that fall into the hands of countries which do not align with us in terms of democratic values and our approach to security?They are really important questions that that side can't answer. I'm looking forward to the summing up from the member in charge because I'd like to hear him say whether he thinks our broadband network should be able to be owned by foreign interests like Colombia with no check whatsoever; whether Mexico should be able to invest in some of our most important companies and assets; or whether Costa Rica should be investing in our own high-tech and aerospace and space industries. These are all questions which need to be answered. And you know what? They've got no answer. They can chip away they can heckle but they can't actually give a consistent answer. The reason for that is because there isn't one.So I'm very proud of the work that the Labour Party's done around the Overseas Investment Act stopping foreign buyers buying homes that Kiwis should live in. That was a really good step and we have tightened the framework as the Minister of Defence will know around the security test that we need to run the ruler over to make sure we're not allowing foreign interests to by stealth gain a foothold in New Zealand's security framework. This is a ridiculous bill. That's a party without ideas. I can't believe they're supporting this kind of legislation."