Another public submission
Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Bill
Kia Ora e te Iwi,
Below is my public submission against the Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
As always if you are wishing to make a submission against this bill you are welcome to draw from mine what ever you can.
also has an excellent substack that includes a lot of resouces for further reading & learning.
Tēnā koutou e te Finance and Expenditure Committee
Ko Cristina Toku ingoa,
I am strongly opposed to the Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
The “benefit to New Zealand” test will be diluted to make the approval process faster & easier. On Paper this might seem like a good thing, but it’s not.
A maximum timeframe of 15 days for considerations is not long enough for proper research to be carried out & possible affected communities will not have time to collate & put forward their concerns in that derisory time frame.
The faster process means that impacts on the environment, wild life & local residents, Including Iwi will be giving less thought. Potential long term consequences on the aforementioned stakeholders, including impacts on future generations will also be overlooked, all because of an arbitrary time constraint of 15 days or less.
Economic opportunism over Aotearoa’s well being of her people & her environment will take precedence. This is myopic as short term money making can damage resources to the point that long term economics may be more costly.
The centralization of decision making powers to one minister is prone to subjectivity & possible compromised ability to remain politically neutral.
Abandon this bill immediately and maintain stringent overseas investment tests & regulations. The long term well being & sustainability of Aotearoa New Zealand MUST be at the forefront of all decisions concerning overseas & domestic investment.
Ngā Mihi Nui
Cristina
Also, when our government invests overseas that’s free money for foreigners. Our government can always do this, it does not need tax revenue offset if the government does not mind the number called ‘crown debt’ in their spreadsheet going up while waiting for returns.
However, it is a service to the foreign firm seeking the finance capital. Why not also invest in Kiwis? We have plenty unemployed. Why not also instead just increment the UN funds? That’s the more effective investment. If the UN uses an NZD to claim our real resources inappropriately we can just refuse tie ship them. Again, none of it is “tax payer funded”.
The foreign firm should be getting finance capital form their own government. There is no reason on earth why they cannot, except for their government unwillingness to spend by fiat.