Brown Peter: Overseas Investment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
Brown Peter: Overseas Investment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21545] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I think Labour played a bit of a cruel hoax on that member. It did not advise him which bill was on the Order Paper. New Zealand is a low-wage economy on a worldwide scale. 
Mark Peck 
: I blame the poms for that. 
PETER BROWN 
: The member makes a joke of it. I know the Government thinks it will have addressed the situation by 2008 when it will give low-paid people 67c a week extra but I can tell the member that that is not enough. 
Craig McNair 
: A stick of gum. 
PETER BROWN 
: That is about all it is worth. New Zealand is a low-wage economy. The ACT members and some of the other members who have spoken want to put New Zealand up for sale with a line at the bottom of the advertisement saying: “Going cheaply.” 
Craig McNair 
: Flog it off. 
PETER BROWN 
: They want to flog it off to everybody. I know that Deborah Coddington and the Hon Michael Cullen stated that land sold to overseas investors does not go away—cannot be taken away. I tell honourable members that as far as the average New Zealander is concerned it most certainly can be. It might as well be at the other end of the world because they cannot afford it. If we open this country to buyers worldwide and say that anything and everything is for sale so they should come here with their money then the average New Zealander will never get anywhere. If the members on the Government benches do not understand how difficult it is for people to buy their first home then they should go out and talk to some of the average New Zealanders who are trying to do that. Or if they do not understand how hard it is for a young farmer to get a farm then they should go and talk to some of those guys who are suffering. John Key is a multimillionaire  
Sunday 
 told us. 
John Key 
: Don’t believe everything you saw on that programme. 
PETER BROWN 
: The member has a big flash house in Parnell and a beach house that most of us here would die for. He would not have those assets had he not gone overseas to work for them. He would not have attained them on the pay scales in this country no matter how good he is at his job. Just for the record Mr Key is nodding in total agreement. I cannot think of one profession or one trade in which a person would not be better off working overseas—not one. [ 
Interruption 
] Is the member giving me one? 
John Key 
: Graeme Hart—he’s worth about $1.5 billion. 
PETER BROWN 
: Where is he living? 
John Key 
: He lives in St Heliers. 
PETER BROWN 
: That is the one exception. 
Brian Connell 
: Douglas Myers is another one. 
PETER BROWN 
: Madam Speaker this is difficult enough without these fellows— 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Yes it is difficult enough. Could we please stick to the bill. 
Simon Power 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I appreciate that we are in urgency and that things move along in a reasonably convivial way but if the New Zealand First member personalises the debate in a way that involves Mr Key’s non-parliamentary life then he can expect some interjection from those in Mr Key’s party who sit around him. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: I take the member’s point. I thought there was an element of camaraderie there—obviously I was mistaken. It was getting out of control. Let us get back to the purpose of the bill. No humour is required at this stage—members should just address the bill. 
PETER BROWN 
: As I recall Mr Key made reference to his own circumstances in his own speech and I think he took what I said with good humour. If we open the door for anybody to come here to buy anything then we encourage young New Zealanders to go overseas to earn the big bikkies needed to come back and buy the country. 
New Zealand First unashamedly believes that there should be some restrictions on overseas investment in this country. We will not get mixed up like ACT members and confuse that with people who come here with their money on a permanent basis determined to settle here invest here and play a positive part in the economic and social well-being of the country. We are not confusing overseas investors with immigrants who come here and make a commitment to this country. The ACT member seemed to get quite confused when illustrating that point. 
The Greens have produced a Supplementary Order Paper much of which on the surface New Zealand First supports. We have not had a chance to examine it in detail or to discuss it in caucus but the Greens make some points that sit comfortably with New Zealand First particularly in respect of the purpose clause. The Supplementary Order Paper enlarges the purpose clause basically by adding clause 3(b): “Any ownership or control must be in the national interest for the long term benefit of New Zealanders.” We think that that is a fairly level-headed approach. The Supplementary Order Paper further adds clause 3(c): “Public participation in decisions about overseas investment will be encouraged.” I tell Mr Donald that New Zealand First will support that also. 
I regret to say that we have not had a chance to examine the rest of the Supplementary Order Paper in detail and therefore have been unable to discuss it as a caucus. I notice that the amendment to insert clause 18(2)(g)(i) relates to: “provisions made for settlements to claims made under the Treaty of Waitangi including return of land;” and that part of that clause refers to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi. That puts us on our guard. But we will support the amendment to the purpose clause because we think that the Greens have enlarged it to reflect what most New Zealanders feel about overseas investment. 
I conclude by drawing the House’s attention to the fact that very recently a football club in the UK namely Manchester United was sold in large part to some Americans. There was just about uproar in Manchester. Manchester United is still going. The team is still playing soccer as far as I know. It has not been moved out of the country—it is still there. The players still play in red and white. It still has Wayne Rooney and all the stars. But the Manchester United fans created uproar. The Government wants to do something like that to this country. It wants to do to New Zealand what has been done to the Manchester United Football Club. It is saying that it will do that to New Zealand—so does it not expect some passion and concern out there? I say to the Government that it is wrong. Can Government members tell me what gain was obtained for the country and for the average New Zealander by the sale of $16 billion worth of assets under Labour and National in the 1980s and 1990s? They should tell me that. 
Hon David Cunliffe 
: What have the Romans done for us? 
PETER BROWN 
: The member thinks it is a joke. He did not think it was a joke when he had to buy back Air New Zealand a couple of years ago. He did not think it was a joke when the Government had to buy back Tranz Rail after the average New Zealander had been promised a first-class railway system. If the Government has not learnt the lesson of selling things cheaply then it should have done so by now. 
New Zealand First is a political party founded on the principle that first and foremost it will look after New Zealanders and this country. [ 
Interruption 
] The member over there makes a noise but if he thought a little more deeply about what the people in Otaki think about this he might have a different view. Maybe he should go out and ask them whether they want overseas investment. Oh no that would be getting too close to the coalface. The Minister is shaking his head. 
This bill will get through because the good old boys of politics in this country National and Labour will combine. They will put up a sign saying that this country is for sale and going cheaply and that buyers should come and talk to Michael Cullen and John Key. New Zealand First opposes this bill.