Connell Brian: Overseas Investment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
Connell Brian: Overseas Investment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21567] 
BRIAN CONNELL (National—Rakaia) 
: 
 When I was speaking previously I was about to share with the Committee the story of a Japanese investor who bought property in the Rakaia Gorge back in the 1990s. He paid $600000 for a property and everyone concluded he was absolutely mad. The locals were laughing out of the sides of their mouths. They could not give the land to him quickly enough. They thought they had caught themselves a mug. This investor has subsequently turned that farm into one of the pristine golfing environments in this country. It is now referred to as Terrace Downs. Terrace Downs is favoured by people on the golf circuit as one of the three best golf courses in this country. That investor has gone on to spend $80 million and his initial investment was $600000. 
People from Christchurch have invested in Terrace Downs in their droves. The subdivision legislation that was introduced by National which Dr Cullen took umbrage with has enabled Christchurch investors to invest in Terrace Downs in their droves. Some of the houses there are outstanding. The landscape is outstanding and the golf lodge is also on the circuit of “must visit” places for people who are holding a function of any sort. The number of tourists who come through Terrace Downs on any given day is contributing huge amounts of capital to the local community as well as to New Zealand more broadly. 
But—and there is a but—one or two of the holes I can think of go down to the water’s edge. We were told by the member for Otago to accept that that investor having contributed something like $80 million to this iconic location should have that value taken from him. He should have that land taken from him so that people could no longer play the 10th hole on the Terrace Downs golf course. That is what he implied. That is what he was trying to do. 
Michael Cullen can take all the moral high ground he likes. This is a bill that he is sponsoring. But he got the nod from the New Zealand public to say: “Hey the tide’s on the way out. You had better pull your horns in.” That is what Dr Cullen and David Parker were trying to foist on this House and on the people of this country specifically. 
I can think of another example but before I go there I just want to say that this country needs people like that investor. We need people who are visionary who are prepared to take risks and who are prepared to have the courage of their convictions and come to New Zealand and invest. But I fear that a lot of the anti - overseas investor sentiments which are driving some of the debates I am hearing today are simply based on racial grounds. We have to accept now that we are a multicultural society and we need people like that to come here and invest. 
I said I could think of some other examples and I can. Another example which also includes Japanese capital is Five Star Beef Ltd in Ashburton. It houses 18000 cattle which are destined for high-value restaurants in Tokyo. That investment has about $30 million of Japanese capital and without that capital it would not have happened. It would not be sustainable. That beef lot example underpins three local transport companies underpins the local barley price supports two freezing works in the district and employs I do not know how many people but it runs into hundreds. If we listened to the arguments that have been put forward those investors would not be welcome in this country and that is an absolute nonsense.