Nash Stuart: Overseas Investment (Owning our Own Rural Land) Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNash Stuart: Overseas Investment (Owning our Own Rural Land) Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 22 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5250. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]STUART NASH (Labour—Napier): It is pretty obvious that members on that side of the House have not even read the bill. They got to the title and went “OK let’s look at the notes that the research unit sent.” The vast majority of the nonsense that that party and those last speakers have spoken does not even relate to the bill at all.In fact I think it is quite easy to mount an argument that the sponsor of this bill Mr Phil Goff has done more for international trade than anyone in this House—than anyone over the history of this Parliament. Mr Goff was the man responsible for the New Zealand - China free-trade agreement. How can anyone accuse Mr Goff of racism of xenophobia or of anything except putting New Zealand’s interests first—and this is exactly what this bill does. This bill puts New Zealand’s interests first—nothing more nothing less—and we in the Labour Party believe that we have an absolute right as representatives of this nation to look after the rights of New Zealanders.To say that we are racist and to say that we are xenophobic simply means that you have not read the bill you have not understood the bill at all you have not understood the purpose of the bill and you have also not understood the purpose of the Overseas Investment Act. All Mr Goff’s bill does is ensure that those who buy our farmland—and it is our land; as New Zealanders this is our country—add value that they add value to our land that they do not come over here and rape and pillage.There is already an Overseas Investment Act which does this but we do not think it goes far enough. It is simply because the Minister himself who has provided a letter to the chief executive officer of the Overseas Investment Office to give that chief executive officer direction on policy initiatives has said: “Don’t worry about the small farms. Don’t worry about the average farms. The only thing I want you to put any effort into is the really really large farms.” We do not think this is right.We absolutely believe that New Zealand’s global competitive advantage relies on the fact that we are excellent farmers that we add significant value and that we provide a product to the world that is first class. We are not saying “Close the borders.” We are not saying no to overseas investment. We are not saying that overseas investors cannot buy our farmland. That is the last thing we are saying. What Mr Goff’s bill does say however is that it is a privilege to own land in New Zealand which of course is the purpose. If you read the purpose statement of the Overseas Investment Act it says it is a privilege to own or to be able to invest in New Zealand and to be able to take advantage of that privilege to be part of that privilege to earn that privilege an investor has got to be able to add value over and above that which can be added by New Zealanders.That test is already in place. That test is in place. All Mr Goff’s bill does is tighten it even further to ensure—to ensure—that those who are not born here but want to invest here and want the privilege of owning sensitive New Zealand land live up to that privilege and that they add value so all New Zealanders know that people who want to call New Zealand home and want to have a balanced portfolio that includes New Zealand farmland understand absolutely what that privilege means. And that privilege means that that overseas investor has got to be able to add value over and above that of a Kiwi.The thing that Mr Goff’s bill does is that it emphasises jobs—is there anything wrong with that? Is there anything wrong with emphasising jobs? And it emphasises the economic imperative—i.e. you cannot come in here and run down our farms and take our land or our people or our economy for granted. In fact you cannot do that. You have got to come in here and you have got to make sure that New Zealand jobs are protected that you create New Zealand jobs and that the economic benefit that is going to be created is real. Is there something wrong with that? I do not think so. In fact I think the vast majority of New Zealanders actually get the fact that Mr Goff’s bill protects the interests of New Zealanders. That is all—nothing more nothing less. We think that is fundamentally important and that is why we support this bill.