Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Overseas Investment (Restriction on Foreign Ownership of Land) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bakshi Kanwaljit Singh: Overseas Investment (Restriction on Foreign Ownership of Land) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 15 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4428. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
KANWALJIT SINGH BAKSHI (National) 
: 
 Thank you for the opportunity to speak on the first reading of the Overseas Investment (Restriction on Foreign Ownership of Land) Amendment Bill. On behalf of migrants I would like to say that such a bill will be a disappointment for them. They bring a lot of investment which in turn creates a lot of jobs. Such a bill will restrict them from bringing in their investment. I hope my good friend Raymond Huo will stand and join me in saying this on behalf of migrants. 
This bill is designed to retain ownership and control of sensitive lands within New Zealand. It amends the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to prevent overseas persons from purchasing sensitive land. This critical bill also means that nobody can buy sensitive land unless they are a citizen or an ordinary resident nor can any company that is 25 percent or more foreign-owned. 
I call this bill critical for a number of reasons. Our colleagues on the opposite side of this House want New Zealand to enjoy a high standard of living minimum wages to be raised and to compete with Australia. However these wonderful colleagues of ours who have all these bright theoretical ideas do not share their wisdom on where as a country we are going to fund these theoretical ideas from. Our colleagues suggest we raise the company tax at a time when our largest competitor and trading partner is contemplating lowering the tax rates. We do not need a supercomputing brain to calculate the impact of this decision on our economy our businesses and our jobs. 
I also take this opportunity to remind my colleagues that most countries are facing the global financial crisis. This means that investors are looking for alternatives to the traditional economies of Europe and America to invest in. Therefore I believe that this is our opportunity to benefit from the current situation that New Zealand and the world at large is in. This is also our opportunity to provide our people with more much-needed jobs and economic growth. This is definitely our opportunity to provide New Zealanders with the kinds of lifestyles they are entitled to. 
As the Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key said we have been spending like First World countries and it is high time that we start earning and building up an economy that belongs to the First World. Unless we take decisive action now future generations stand to bear the burden of our inaction and our wrong decisions. This country needs overseas investment so that our businesses have access to much-needed capital. Access to capital means they can expand their operations which in turn means they will employ more people. It will also mean that our businesses can look at not just national but international expansion of their operations. This will boost our exports thereby improving our lifestyle and wages. 
On one side we talk of New Zealand being an open and internationally competitive economy and on the other hand we have Opposition members proposing that we turn New Zealand into a fortress where there is a limit on who can invest. This attitude of the Green Party will no doubt limit our incomes and lead to a depreciation in the quality of public services and it will most certainly not lead to any job creation. I oppose this bill.