Crafar farm Chinese sale breaches NZ law, court told
UPDATED: Justice Forrie Miller has finished hearing the application to stop the sale of the Crafar farms to a Chinese company and has reserved his decision for up to a fortnight.
Lawyers seeking an interim injunction to stop the sale of the Crafar farms to subsidiary of Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin say representatives of that company do not have the relevant business experience or acumen to run dairy farms as required by New Zealand law.
Alan Galbraith QC told Justice Forrie Miller, representing a Sir Michael Fay-led consortium that placed a rival bid with the Crafar farms receiver, argued in the Wellington High Court that Overseas Investment Office erred in approving the sale on the basis of state-owned Landcorp’s involvement as the relevant legislation required the experience to be held by representative of the company that is making the purchase.
Mr Galbraith said there is "not the slightest indication" any individuals from that company do have that experience.
“They are simply going to put the money up, sit back, and let Landcorp run it”
He said the company's role was that of a financier and passive investor.
However, that claim was refuted by Hamish Hancock, from the Crown Law Office, who represented the chief executive of Land Information New Zealand Colin MacDonald, Associate Minister of Finance Jonathan Coleman and Minister of Land Information Maurice Williamson.
Submissions supplied to the court by Mr Hancock said the application to stop the sale was “ill-founded” and just an attempt by an unsuccessful bidder to reduce the price of assets they wanted to buy.
The documents said the sections of the Overseas Investment Act relied on by Mr Galbraith is his argument were not intended to be used that way by Parliament.
The Shanghai Pengxin purchase met all the necessary requirements of New Zealand legislation for an overseas investment in a large scale business operation, such as the Crafar farms, the submissions said.
“Ministers are entitled to hold the view in a major agricultural business acquisition running into tens or hundreds of millions of dollars that relevant business acumen and experience can require evidence of a different kind of acumen and experience that would enable the owner or shareholder on a far smaller operation to farm successfully,” the submissions said.
The law required Mr Coleman and Mr Williamson to determine “using their particular experience and judgment and having regard to their electorate accountability, whether the application before them provides a substantial and identifiable benefit to New Zealand,” they said.
“This the Ministers have clearly done in the present application.”
The judge is expected to reserve his decision.
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Comments and questions53
And yes, Ameritech and Bell Atlantic had telecommunications expertise when they bought Telecom?
Turned out their expertise was to ripped billions of capital and dividends out of Telecom and ran NZ's telecommunication infrastructure from 1st world to second world.
And who brought them into Telecom?
None other than Mr Fay!
Do we see ' Mr Fay " milking his own cows on his already owned dairy farms ??? Imagine his red brands still with the price tag on them !
Presumably the Crown has/sought an order as to surety of costs from Fay and Assoc ?
Interesting point raised previously by Labour's Shane Jones in reference
to both Fay and Richwhite - "Are they actually fulfilling the citizenship requirements? No doubt they fled overseas to avoid tax obligations to capture the full extent of their ill-gotten gains"
Is leading patriot "Sir" Michael in NZ or is he running the case from his tax haven in Switzerland? Hope he is keeping an accurate record of the time he spends in NZ - we wouldn't want to see him contributing to the NZ exchequer, would we?
Wonder how Mr Galbraith will fare without his mate Bill presiding ...
NBR... couldnt handle the truth of my previous comments eh? So much for free press, but then again with those named and shamed Im not surorised you removed the comments! Will have to post them on facebook instead.
Then again I will simply try to repost now under my name, wonder how long my comments will last this time?
Oh dear... Messrs Key and English may have to suffer the wrath of their Chinese 'business associates' if this deal to the Chinese doesn't go ahead! What a shame... They should be more careful who they chum up to and make promises to, perhaps stick with their American 'rogue partners' instead.
Key and English are playing a dangerous game for NZ and all NZers by doing their backroom deals with both China and the USA. The Chinese want land and food production facilities in NZ and the Americans prefer the likes of access to OILFIELDS (ie Anadarkos oil exploration off the Sth Islands East coast) and FINANCIAL investments which they can later use to pull the rug out from under their borrowers when a trust deed is 'technically breached' courtesy of Perpetual Trustees flagging such a breach of course! The Americans also use a combination of their weapons of mass financial destruction by including credit rating downgrades courtesy of S&P by simply adjusting a credit rating therefore breaching the trust deed... ie they used BOTH S&P and Trustees executors with these methods to help collapse South Canterbury Finance.
Of course Bill is now busy burying NZ in DEBT from the USA Federal Reserve... just wait and see what happens when NZ eventually struggles to repay that debt... The Fed will own whatever they desire in exchange for being lenient with NZ on repayment terms.
We KNOW we are being set up for a raping and pillaging of the fat public purse but does anyone in the corridors of power actually care? Treasury are supposed to be 'guardians of the public purse' but with ZERO accountability or transparency?
Cases in point of abusing the public purse include... SCF $1Billion+, AMI $1Billion ripoff no-one has noticed yet, and the seismic testing cost of $200M from the public purse whilst the oil exploration co only put $10M in... (see Origin Energy Contact Finance No2 Ltd at coy office records online... The public purse invested $200M for a 49% stake whilst Anadarko and Australian subsidiary Origin Energy Pacific Holdings Ltd ONLY invested $10M for a 51% stake..? Go figure.)
This countries 'leaders' need to take a good hard look in the mirror to examine their true motives for ruling NZ, it clearly ain’t for their love of the country or their fellow men.
This comment has been edited to remove unsubstantiated - and therefore defamatory - allegations of fraud. NEWS EDITOR
I am impressed that Mr Fay has recently gained such integrity along with very high moral values that he is concerned about N.Z. citizens being affected badly by selling these farms to the Chinese who were the highest bidders . Yeah Right !!!
once the chinese hear his nz on air funded daughter sing i think they will abandon the farms for health reasons
If Fay wanted the farms, why didnt he put a bid in that was at or above the market, instead he was seeking a large discount on the debt only. If the farms had $200-220m of debt then they would have a value 30% higher than this using basic lending practices.
Mr Fay - you lost; deal with it.
Your imagination clearly outruns your intelligence!
What rubbish, NZ telecomunications was third world pre the privatisation. The new owners made money out of it by improving the business and service.
Telecom turned to custard I think after Fay and Richwhite and others exited.
Great comment, Lindsay!
As great as your support for high interest rates during the Asian financial crisis.
Clap! Clap!
Go back and read about the telecommunications industry in NZ and how Telecom went from the most backward to the most advanced after corporatisation to a SOE before being sold.
Next you will be saying that Fay Richwhite saved BNZ and TranzRail.
blankets and beads
Your roundtable loyalty clearly outruns your integrity...
What Mr Fay is claiming is rediclous, and he is wasting public's money & time.
If Mr Fay is really wanting to purchasing the farms and keeping in NZ ownership, put a higher offer, but not try to steal it.
Money is the key!
Haha - Fay is still trying to recover the $20m he paid to settle the Tranzrail insider trading case? He looked so pathetic with his Maori mate in the Japanese restaurant the other week. What is noticeable is how everyone else avoided him. Gotto be careful in case of catching the stench from him?
Why can't these dairy interests lease farms, investing in New Zealand, getting the product they want, and we retain ownership?
Why can't these dairy interests lease farms, investing in New Zealand, getting the product they want, and we retain ownership?
What about the southland dairy farms and all the coal that lies beneath, we are being robbed right infront of our very eyes and people are prepared to stand by without a peep, Baaaaaaaaa
What about the $100 billion plus of borrowings New Zealanders have obtained from overseas?
How are you going to pay that back?
Baaaaaaaa - by working hard?
Understand please dragon, It is none of your business if a private NZ'er borrows offshore.
Where do you think the original settlers (Maori- Pakeha -Chinese) got the finance for development?
Where would NZ be today if they,(the original settlers) didn't get it.?
DOH
Difference is that they did not borrow to pay for groceries. You savvy?
OH yes they did.
Just as I had to when I started farming.
You see, you don't get paid weekly like a public servant when you are farming.
Sometimes you don't get paid at all.
GET IT.
No, they did not - they borrowed to buy the farms, worked hard and lived off the farms.
They did not borrow to buy overseas holidays, expensive cars and above all, second holiday homes by the beach or by the lakes.
Don't insult those who really worked hard for their living and paid their ways.
And BTW, you still think a receiver must IMMEDIATELY sell onto the market any property or business they take possession of?
Why the sudden surge in comments by Maori readers?
Oh... it's the waitangi weekend. Their blood has started to boil :-)
Better the Maoris anytime than scumbag Fay and his carpetbagger brown-skinned pretense Maori partner.
For those who are afraid of Chinese buying the farms:
Start CAMPING ON THE FARMS and they will run like seeing a ghost. Not joking.
Chinese do not like incidences like that. They are peace loving people and want everything run smoothly without any kind of disturbances.
Hahaha!
Exchanges between John Morrison and Fay Poorwhite (aka Dragon, etc) are hilarious and outlandish. A good laugh for Sunday morning!
YES
The farms were bought one by one. They could've been sold one by one. But then the receivers wouldn't have got their 20 plus million?
re early settlers. Please dragon stop going on about something you evidently know nothing about.
"... and lived off the farms"
DOH
Think before you post. Or you try "living off" a farm!!
Landcorp is the operator - not the Chinese.
So it's up to Landcorp to enforce the law.
Yes, very clever, Mr Morrison, get a receiver to sell any asset or business as soon as he takes possession.
You are one clever dude!
The top NZ land buyers have been the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and Israel. Perhaps, poorly informed NZers are "barking the wrong tree". Who are the REAL INSTIGATORS....
See how easy it is to stir up racist (not xenophobia) feelings in NZ?
Easy for the likes of Fay and Winston to use this racist tendency for their own means.
NZ is doomed.
But the land does not belong to Landcorp, mate.
Yeah. Camp on them NOW and see if the deals goes thru or not.
And the precedent set for the rest of NZ is this - that any farm sale is fair game for the Maoris?
We are talking about private land rights here.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
Poor Landcorp can't afford these Crafar Farms, unless you Kiwis are prepared (and not just talks) to chip in as well in order to overtake the highest existing bid....
M Fay is inn this to line his own fat wallet ... BNZ & NZ Rail come to mind
It's not a matter of not handling the "truth" of your comments, it's a matter of defamation laws regulating the unverified publication of unsubstantiated allegations.
We are very happy to look into your comments if you email them to us. Try editor@nbr.co.nz
Thanks
Mr Editor (Chopper)!
You even chop the comments of people who make very logical and no defamatory comments on your editorial page.
Worse, you even delete the comments of people, again logical and not defamatory, of those who write their name on those comments.
Yet, you have the face to talk of "Fairness" ? Look who is talking?!
For your edification;
The employers of "Mr Editor" own this site and are therefore liable in court for comments they leave remaining in this thread.
Guess what they would do to "Mr Editor" if that were to happen!!
Hard to believe so many intellectually challenged peeps join these forums, it really is.
OK dear the yanks and euros got no money now only the yellow and brown monkeys fron china and india must be hard for all the white folks so lets all go to court and be smary and waste tax payers money satisying big michael fay and the rest of the same kin egos
I rest my case.
White trash of the world unite!
The sale of land to the Chinese is a breach of the partnership in the Treaty of Waitangi is it not? Where have the maoris been consulted? Where have the Europeans been consulted? Selling land to a foreign power especially one such as the Chinese government is treason. NO Land, and NO ultilities or anything that is part of NZ infrastructure that we could not easily replace should NOT be up for sale to any person, entity or government that could act against the NZ nation.
This sale of farms to the chinese has very little to do with china, rather more to do with limiting the banks losses.
Sold out by the banks; yet again. Ever wondered who funds the banks. Go work for the tax havens & you'll find out. I suspect its mainly money obtained by illegal means...
Notwithstanding this, the Chinese should not be able to buy land here as we can not buy land in China.
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