Peters WinstonLAND TRANSFER (FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF LAND REGISTER) AMENDMENT BILLFirst ReadingRt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First): I move That the Land Transfer (Foreign Ownership of Land Register) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Government Administration Committee to consider this bill. The bill will amend the Land Transfer Act 1952 and the purpose of the bill is very straightforward. It is to ensure there is an accurate reliable and practical way to measure the amount of land under the control of foreign nationals. This New Zealand First bill is designed to shed long-overdue light on the true extent of foreign ownership of land and housing in New Zealand.Currently there is no comprehensive official database of foreign ownership of land in New Zealand. Although the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) collects data about applications and decisions and whether they result in approval or rejection these details do not comprehensively capture the true extent of foreign ownership of land in this country. The OIO is a facade—nothing more than a sheep in sheep's clothing. The OIO is not properly resourced to monitor any of the conditions it sets but relies upon the community to undertake that vital function and of course that is proving to be an incredibly hard thing to do if you cannot find out who owns the land in the first place. In denying the right of New Zealanders to know what land is foreign-owned and what land is not Messrs Key Joyce and English and their acolytes are all spouting piffle and platitudes.The bill will mean that a full and comprehensive register of all foreign-owned New Zealand land is compiled and is made readily available to the general public. It will record names and nationalities the amount and value of the land involved and the region in which the land is situated. Purchasers will be required upon registering land dealings to provide the information for the register. The register will apply to all dealings in land as that term is defined in section 2 of the Land Transfer Act 1952. The definition of the term land" in section 2 includes "messages tenements and hereditaments corporeal and incorporeal of every kind and description". That means the register will extend to dealings involving a dwelling house the physical things on land such as building materials minerals and trees which are corporeal and hereditaments and interests in land such as easements land and rent charges which are incorporeal hereditaments. The register will provide an important resource for policy makers and the general public who will be able to gauge the foreign stake in landholdings across New Zealand and in their local communities.The bill also has teeth. New section 47A(1)(4) inserted by clause 4 states: "A person who knowingly fails to comply with subsection (3) commits an offence and will be liable to a fine not exceeding 25% of the value of the land involved." For the first time the register will provide transparency for concerned New Zealanders as to the real extent of the foreign ownership of New Zealand because—I want to say to the Government members—ignorance is not bliss unless you are a National Government intent on hiding and obfuscating the extent of foreign ownership of land and housing in this country. But New Zealanders have a right to know what is happening in their country and fundamental to that is who owns what and where. That is why this bill is so vital.The issue of foreign ownership of land and property in New Zealand is one of great importance. It always has been. Foreign ownership of land goes to the heart of our sovereignty as a country. If we no longer own our own country who indeed are we? As well as the sovereignty aspect the transfer of land and housing to non-resident foreign citizens has enormous and enduring economic impact. But this Government with its short-term "everything is for sale" attitude has no concern about the damage that the remorseless loss of land into foreign ownership is doing to New Zealand.It is essential that a comprehensive register of foreign ownership of land is developed as soon as possible and this bill is it. It is urgently required because of the alarming loss of land into foreign ownership. The losses are staggering. From January to July this year—a period of just 6 months—the amount of land sold to foreign buyers has almost tripled with 108724 hectares being sold compared with just 40000 during the same period in 2015 which was bad enough. It is more than double. The three largest sales comprised Hong Kong buyers who paid $16.5 million for Braemar Road Lake Tekapō; an Australian investment company that bought 1341 hectares of Wairarapa land and a couple from China who paid $8.5 million for 1191 hectares of land in Stockerau Station Whakatāne.This wholesale sell-off of New Zealand land and business to foreign interests is completely counter to New Zealand's long-term interests. As in New Zealand the Australian public is deeply alarmed at the loss of the land to foreign ownership—the difference is that the Aussie Government has taken action in this area. It was in response to growing concerns with foreign ownership that last year the Australian Government implemented a register of foreign ownership of agricultural land that requires companies to disclose any foreign ownership of farmland. Clearly the Australian Government has accepted the need for greater scrutiny of foreign ownership. Information from the Australian register of foreign ownership of agricultural land confirms that the Australian public were right to be concerned. It has revealed that foreign ownership grew by 2.5 million hectares over the past 3 years and now foreign ownership accounts for 13.6 percent or 52 million hectares of Australia's total agricultural land.The real question that New Zealanders ask in connection with Australia is this: why do we not already have this in place? What has the Government been doing for the last 8 years? After all what Government interested in defending the rights of New Zealanders would want to continue in its blissful ignorance about who owns land and houses in this country? Indeed most New Zealanders are incredulous dumbfounded and concerned that a comprehensive register of foreign ownership of land does not already exist. Most New Zealanders would say a well-ordered society and democracy rests ultimately on a well-informed public but of course the National Government members have no interest in a well-informed public. On the contrary as far as they are concerned an informed public would ask awkward questions. That is why in relation to foreign ownership of land they want to keep New Zealanders in the dark—the sort of political mushroom policy. And as we have seen in many other areas this Government is averse to data averse to numbers and averse to keeping the score measurement or facts.But facts are real. Facts mean that Government Ministers cannot just dismiss legitimate public fears and concerns over foreign ownership with the breezy wave of the hand and a comment like "Nothing to see here; just move along." After 8 years the public have learnt to distrust this Government which is probably why someone is moving on. They are no longer buying the blithe and empty assurances that all is well and that all you have to do is trust the Government. So let us stop the spin and deception. The public do not want smoke and mirrors; they want to know. The Government has thrown all sorts of sand in the public's face to confuse and mislead them; the reasons for inactions are bogus.For instance we had the ludicrous finding by the Attorney-General of all people that somehow a register of land owned by foreigners will breach the New Zealand Bill of Rights. That against the UK Canada and the United States and indeed our settings in this country is absolute balderdash. It is a disgrace that someone would use his formerly self-confessed excellence in the law to come along and see himself so misused seduced and puppetised like that. It is hard to believe any self-respecting person who even got a law degree would behave in his way. But he will get up again he will throw all this dust smoke and mirrors and try to sound erudite but let me tell you that there will come a time soon when he will be gone and by that time we will be left to fix things up—and fix them up we will. But in the interests of the nation they could be fixed up now—they could be fixed up now. Go and ask the public "Would you like to know what is going on yes or no?" and I can guarantee you that 90 percent who are not in the special elitist group of the National Party—all 90 percent—would say: "Yes we want to know." For heaven's sake do they think New Zealanders are stupid?Around 930 years ago William the Conqueror undertook a massive stocktake of medieval England that became the famous Domesday Book. If Norman England could go into a comprehensive land survey with nothing but quill pens parchment and horsepower—no phones no computers no tweeters—then New Zealand in 2016 can figure out what land is owned by foreigners. I hope this bill is passed in this first reading and sent off to a select committee but let me just say to my National Party colleagues over there that if it is not we will campaign on it and it will be "Good night nurse." for you."