Peters Winston: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to MembersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumePeters Winston: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members[Sitting date: 05 November 2014. Volume:701;Page:639. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First)to the Prime Minister: Is his Government committed to evidence-based policy-making?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):Yes.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Well if that is the case why does his Government not demonstrate its commitment to evidence-based policy-making by collecting comprehensive information on the extent of foreign ownership of New Zealand land and housing? [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member has the right to ask the question.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Sorry could I just ask the member to repeat it? It was very muffled—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon Winston Peters: If that is the case—that the answer is in the affirmative—why does his Government not demonstrate its commitment to evidence-based policy-making by collecting comprehensive information on the extent of foreign ownership of New Zealand land and housing?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well we do collect information. We collect it through both the Inland Revenue Department which has a register of foreigners who are required to file a return because they own a rental property in New Zealand and we do record it in relation to the Overseas Investment Office when it approves sales of land above the threshold which is—whatever it is—4.5 hectares or 5 hectares. So we do gather quite a lot of information.Rt Hon Winston Peters: How can the Government be collecting “quite a lot of information” when in the answer nothing referred to housing whatsoever and why does the Government not have a proper house and land register like other countries have?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I hate to burst the member’s bubble but when someone files an Inland Revenue Department tax return because they own a rental property in New Zealand that is a house.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Does the Prime Minister not understand that that is only a rental? What about the other forms of ownership and what steps will the Government take over the next 3 years to limit the transfer of New Zealand land and housing into foreign ownership—even though the trader over there likes it?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well the Government has policies in place through the Overseas Investment Act that we believe are set broadly in about the right place. Although we acknowledge that there are some foreigners who come to New Zealand and purchase land and assets we believe that is in the best interests of New Zealand’s economic growth. That is why land sales to foreigners and house sales to foreigners merrily and happily continued every single time he was on this side of the House.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Not true.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Yes it is.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Given the Chinese Government’s priority—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member has a right to ask the question so that I can hear it.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Given the Chinese Government’s priority and crackdown on corruption what precautions is his Government making to ensure the proceeds of corruption from that country do not go into New Zealand land and housing?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well the Overseas Investment Office goes through a thorough process when it assesses the merits of a purchaser but we are not responsible for any illegal activity that might take place in another country.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Why does the Government consider that selling even more of New Zealand’s productive capacity to foreigners is a path to prosperity?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well that is because if one looks at the history of foreign investment in New Zealand we can point to many examples actually where foreign investment in New Zealand in even land has been very important for New Zealand. Take the wine industry. We all know that the member has quite an interest in the racing industry. Well the racing sector has quite a lot of investment from overseas and last time I looked the member when he was the Minister for Racing was slapping those people on the back and congratulating them on what they were doing for this country.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Would the Prime Minister give us one example that he just claimed happened when I was the Minister for Racing—just one?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I do not have all the snaps and happy pictures taken of him when he was the Minister for Racing and wandering around but I am sure if he wants to open up his holiday snaps to me I will be able to find an example of him patting some foreign owner who was in New Zealand who also owned a bit of bloodstock here and happily shaking hands.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Why does the Prime Minister think he can get away with an answer like that when he has not got one shred of evidence to make the assertion and is it his view that everybody should be running around getting photo opportunities like he does?Mr SPEAKER: In so far as there is some prime ministerial responsibility I will leave it to the Prime Minister.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I am happy with my photo opportunities. If the member is not happy with his well he has to live with himself.