Mooney JosephJOSEPH MOONEY (National—Southland): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker Bennett and congratulations on your elevation to the role of Assistant Speaker. It's great to see you there and I hope we won't see yourself kicking yourself out of the House. I rise to speak on the Overseas Investment (Forestry) Amendment Bill. This is a bill that the National Party supports. It amends the Overseas Investment Act 2005 to ensure that overseas investments that result in the conversion of farmland or other land to forestry benefit New Zealand and that any risk can be better managed. The amendment will limit the special forestry test to applications for the acquisition of land that is already being used exclusively or almost exclusively for production forestry. It will no longer be available to acquire land for forestry conversions or for the acquisition or establishment of permanent carbon forests. Those applications will need to be considered under the standard benefit to New Zealand test.This is a good thing because this does balance the playing field so to speak and does ensure that there is a real analysis of whether investment for these purposes will actually benefit New Zealand. It addresses a concern—certainly to an extent—that has been raised increasingly around the country but I've certainly heard it in my electorate in Southland where there's a real concern amongst our communities that productive farmland is being turned into carbon forestry without an analysis of the loss of the food production capacity of that land without the analysis of the impact on rural schools and without an analysis of the impact on job creation and job retention for the many agricultural businesses that support those farming areas. This is a piece of legislation that does address whether land that has been bought by overseas investors does actually benefit the country and that certainly is a good thing.I note that Environment Southland councillors are on record expressing concern that quality pastoral land may be lost as a result of extensive carbon farming in the future and other entities like Beef + Lamb NZ are quoted in the media saying that the rate of whole farm sales and conversions to carbon farming in the country is out of control. This won't address all of those concerns certainly but it will address that assessment of whether there is a genuine benefit to the country through this legislation.Under current legislation overseas investors wanting to invest in production forestry can seek approval for the investment via a relatively permissive special forestry test which was introduced in 2018. The Government deemed that necessary at the time to support the forestry sector and achieve the Government's goal of stimulating investment and promoting environmental initiatives. However since then the economics of investing in forestry have changed quite significantly. This has resulted in the significant conversion of pastoral farmland to carbon forestry. This change has been driven by the increasing price of carbon credits emissions trading scheme reforms and Government reforestation afforestation schemes. The issue is that the special forestry test to date allows all foreign investors to bypass the same requirements that other foreign investors undergo with the benefit to New Zealand test. This is because the special forestry test is simpler and more permissive than the benefit to New Zealand test.The proposed changes in this bill will have the following benefits. Forestry conversions are removed from the special forestry test. Therefore the special forestry test will only be available for the acquisition of land that is already used exclusively or nearly exclusively for forestry activities—in effect land that is already used for production forestry. Forestry conversions will in future instead be considered under what's called the general benefit to New Zealand test except for forestry conversions that rely on standing consents that were granted or applied for before the commencement of this legislation. This is a good thing because the benefit to New Zealand test includes a modified lens where farmland is concerned which sets a higher threshold. This change will bring applications for future investments in forestry into line with the same criteria that other foreign investors must undergo presently. As I've said this is a bill that National supports. It's a more complex test and it brings the benefits the investment will make into relative use with those who are purchasing land for other purposes from overseas and it does give decision makers greater discretion as well in determining that assessment lens through which they must apply this.While the Government obviously didn't foresee this in 2018—the resulting lowering of the bar—this is a good step for remedying that and National commends this bill to the House. Thank you Mr Speaker."