SpeechRt Hon DAVID CARTER (National): As has been mentioned by previous National speakers we will support this legislation the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3) to the select committee. But the first question I have that hasn't been addressed by any member in the House tonight—and I want the next Labour member to rise and address this question—is why if it's going to a select committee for a full six months is it having to be passed under urgency tonight? Duncan Webb shakes his head. He hasn't got a clue. But I'm going to tell him the answer. I'm going to tell him the answer. It's because there's nothing in the Budget that the Government wants to debate tonight.It's the biggest-spending Budget we've seen in the history of New Zealand but it lacks detail so they've had the shortest-possible debate today on the Budget. They've slammed it down they've put the House into urgency and suddenly the second piece of legislation we're discussing the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3) is off to a select committee for a full six months to come back after the election. So why do we have to do it in urgency tonight? There's no possible—Duncan Webb's ready to rise to his feet. I'm going to look for the answer. I've already given him the answer. He'll fluff around the edges trying to give an excuse as to why. The only reason is this Government doesn't want us here tonight analysing the Budget.The second point I want to note is why does the Hon David Parker hate foreign direct investment? He's been the Minister for Trade and Export Growth now for 2½ years and this is now the fourth piece of legislation he's brought to the House to make it tougher for foreign direct investment in New Zealand—the fourth piece of legislation he's entered into the House. For the first one Duncan Webb sat in the select committee. Lots and lots of submissions. We worked on it for months. Good submissions particularly the ones that had an association with New Zealand First: Conrad Properties the forestry industry. We brought in substantive amendments through the select committee process to get a better bill.It was interesting for me how they introduced this legislation restricting foreign ownership of land at the same time the Hon Shane Jones was trying to push his tree programme. He'd been asleep at the Cabinet meeting that pushed the legislation through and suddenly realised he was in trouble with these overseas investors so they passed a Supplementary Order Paper at the very last minute making it easier—easier—for foreigners to come in and buy our farmland provided they're planting it into trees. A thousand hectares: it's easy to buy. If you're a foreigner it's easy to buy a thousand hectares provided you're putting it into trees. And consequently we've seen good farmland coming out of sheep and beef production going into trees supported by a subsidy to plant those trees all because the Hon Shane Jones went around at the last election with his mate the Rt Hon Winston Peters talking about a billion trees.When I look at the main purposes of the legislation it enables a higher threshold for acquiring farmland reflecting its economic significance and cultural importance. I'm actually at the very liberal end of foreigners coming into this country and buying farmland. I've observed a number of farms in Canterbury that have been run by farmers over generations who coming to the end of their farming life put it up for sale. It's been bought by somebody who is a foreigner but they've come in with substantial investment. They've hugely improved the farm. They've employed more people. As I drive around in Canterbury I look at those farms and they're far more productive. They're far more attractive to look at than what they were under the previous owner. Many of them have been bought by Americans—not a lot of issue there. Many of them have been bought by Australians—not a lot of issue there. But if they're bought by an Asian particularly a Chinese: outrage from the community outrage from Labour outrage from New Zealand First. There's a word for that and it begins with R".The second main purpose of this legislation it says is to enable decision makers to consider the impacts of investment involving water bottling. The Hon Eugenie Sage has just sat down and said this is a hot button issue and I agree it is. Because I know of a particular plant in Kaiapoi just north of Christchurch—not a lot of significant land involved but a big investment there—attempting to bottle water. It's a very abundant artisan well and if it's not tapped and utilised at that source it bubbles out to sea—well if you think about it then to be contaminated. But the issue again is the investors in this particular water-bottling plant. They're not American. They're not Australian. They're Chinese and that's wound the local community up.Now if you think about the economics the wasted opportunity if we don't bottle that water and if we don't take the opportunity to export it and earn overseas funds—think about the lost opportunity. And then the Greens are normally concerned about the environmental impacts of our export industries. Tell me one primary industry in New Zealand that would have less environmental impact than bottling beautifully clean pure water out of an artisan well putting it in a bottle and sending it overseas to earn foreign exchange. The answer is there isn't one.So National will support the legislation to a select committee. I won't be here to consider the submissions but I'll be watching and talking to my mates with great interest. But I do come from a very liberal point of view on foreign investment because this country was built on foreign investment. Consider the insurance industry consider the meat-processing industry: founded here in this country both those industries entirely on foreign investment and over time it transitions comes into New Zealand ownership. It's good. But we've got a Budget delivered today which we now know the Government didn't want to continue debating a Budget that was meant to deliver jobs. Well you don't get jobs unless you've got a business and you don't get jobs unless that business has some capital to invest. And if this Government over there thinks in this time that New Zealand has an abundance of capital to play with they're dreaming they're delusional.We need foreign investment in this country and this sort of legislation the fourth such piece of legislation advanced by the Hon David Parker in just 2½ years sends all the wrong signals to potential overseas investors—who were interested in New Zealand; they've been turned off dramatically over the last 2½ years. And this will be a further nail in that coffin that will actually make the Prime Minister's wish for the Budget that her Government delivered today to deliver jobs—it'll make this a lot lot harder to do so and who suffers then? The very people who traditionally vote Labour at an election. Many of them by the time we get to the election are going to be unemployed and I'm going to be campaigning saying if this Government had any sense and any economic realism about what drives an economy they'd actually be doing the opposite would actually be making it easier for foreign investors to come into this country. Because if they come in invest in businesses: there's your job opportunities.DEPUTY SPEAKER: This is a split call."