O'Connor Simon: Overseas Investment (Owning our Own Rural Land) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Connor Simon: Overseas Investment (Owning our Own Rural Land) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 22 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5248. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tāmaki): I look a bit surprised because we were actually expecting the Labour Party members to take a call or the Green Party members perhaps but it seems that they have become a little bit embarrassed about this. Actually James Shaw referred earlier to one correct thing and one not so correct thing which I think provides some context. The first was that he said the Overseas Investment (Owning our Own Rural Land) Amendment Bill was coming in with unfortunate timing because of announcements by Phil Twyford and Andrew Little last week about foreign buyers based supposedly on Bayesian mathematics but really based just on—David Seymour: Bayesian?SIMON O’CONNOR: Bayesian is it?David Seymour: Is that a German name?SIMON O’CONNOR: Well you never know. It is shocking that they may have used a foreign name to explain what they were doing. He says that it was unfortunate. I do not think that it was unfortunate. Actually I think that the bill that is being discussed tonight and Labour’s use of foreign names to try to set that policy and to discriminate exposes the heart of what they truly think. I think that will provide a challenge for Mr Goff when he has to stand up in front of the people of Auckland including those of my constituency and explain why discrimination can be had based on words and letters alone and the way that they are structured.The second thing that Mr Shaw talked about was that no more land is being created. David Seymour pointed out correctly the Hawaiian volcanoes but I also should note to the House that we have of course the islands in the South China Sea which are doubling each week as they are being built upon.David Seymour: Always take geography seriously.SIMON O’CONNOR: Always take geography seriously. That is why I am very pleased to have a degree or one of my majors in geography—human geography it must be said. Look it is no surprise to the House that I—[Interruption] No I did study Latin Minister but I did not get a major in it; Greek French Māori and Fijian as well but again no majors.I oppose this bill. Actually I think the first point—and I will re-highlight what the leader of the ACT Party said—is that the title betrays one of its great faults. This is not our land—OK? It is not our land; it is a person’s land. It might be a natural person; it might be a family trust. But it is not our land. It is not as if Phil Goff the Labour Party the Green Party or anyone else somehow has rights over it. At day’s end—and I have said this at times to my own constituents who get a bit upset about foreigners buying land—it is New Zealanders who actually make the free choice to sell it to someone else. No one has put a gun to their head and said: “You must sell to an overseas buyer.” The land that we are talking aboutwas private land—farms like the Crafar farms are a perfect example. The Crafar farms were private land. It is not Government land; it is private land. And for a variety of reasons they chose to sell it. But again it is a bit like the unfortunate nature of the comments around race: the Labour Party members do not believe in private property rights. They believe that they know best and they want to tell you how to run your life your land your showerhead pressures and everything else. It is a disgrace.They also forget that we live in a global environment. The honourable member who has proposed this bill understands this because he has been the champion particularly through the Labour Party of free-trade agreements. The thing about free-trade agreements is that you trade freely. You engage freely with your foreign neighbours. Just as we will seek New Zealand to invest we are open from our side to having people purchasing here in New Zealand. We have heard very good examples from colleagues on this side of the House of foreign people buying businesses and land here. We know about the Crafar farms and we know about Haier which has become quite involved with Fisher and Paykel Appliances. I do not have the exact numbers here but they are just a couple of examples where foreign purchasers—foreign capital coming into New Zealand—is helping not only those businesses but also New Zealand. It makes sense. Again we live in a global environment. Our strength comes from dealing with other people trading capital.I do not want to get into economics; I leave that to others. But we do not want to return to a state of autarky—not Ōtaki but autarky—where we close our borders and we all wear the same uniforms drive the same cars and go down to some Labour Party welfare office to collect our bottle of vodka and one potato a day. I oppose this bill.