Horses for courses on ownership

02-08-2010 | Steve Wyn-Harris

I touched a little on ownership of New Zealand farmland recently and judging from the response in terms of emails from you back to me, it remains a hot topic and one worth delving into a little deeper.

My personal view of land ownership is that it is a privilege and not a right. And it may be a cliché but land ownership is after all merely a life tenure because in my observation no one has yet taken it with them when they have gone.

But who should be allowed to own New Zealand farmland is largely a matter of perspective. A particular farmer might be xenophobic and hold strongly all their life to the view that land should be held only by bonafide Kiwis, but I'd imagine that come time of sale and the prospect at long last of a return from a career of toil and deprivation and looking forward to a comfortable retirement, would most likely take the price offered by the highest bidder. Be that Kiwi, Chinese, Gambian or Martian.

However, the under bidder who had always wanted that farm or it may have been their best opportunity to become a farmer, would rail that foreigners were outbidding Kiwis and pushing the price above what should be paid.

Last week John Key said he was genuinely concerned about growing overseas interest in farms and warned that foreign buyers could become dominant players. He asked the question: "Do we want to be tenants in our own country or do we want to own our own destiny?"

Interestingly this has strong parallels with the sentiments of the government of this country 110 years ago. In Seddon's Liberal government was a Minister of Lands and Agriculture by the name of John McKenzie.

He was a young lad in Scotland during the Highland clearances in the 1840s and was left with a natural hatred of absentee landlords and the

exploitation of tenant farmers.

His passionate beliefs helped lead to the Land Settlement Acts of

1891 which in turn led to many of the large stations around the

country being purchased by the Crown, split up and balloted to a whole generation of family farmers.

The original station from which our own farm was carved was Woburn and the owner at the time fought the government over the acquisition but eventually lost and the station was broken up in 1901 into 58

farms and following this test case many other stations followed suit.

National is undertaking a review of overseas investment rules and are now signalling a rethink on land sales. Key's comments are interesting given the OIO process is still under way with regard to the prospective Crafar farm purchases and that it wasn't long ago that Agriculture Minister David Carter was smacked on the hand for delving into similar territory.

The spectre of Winston Peters rising from the dead with his devil mate Michael Laws by his side possibly explains why National might be trying to steal what could be his favourite theme.

The Greens have been pretty consistent on the issue of foreign land

ownership and it's my pick that this could become a hot election issue

next year.

Foreign investment has got this country where it is today. And there

are excellent examples of very good overseas ownership of NZ land. Young Nicks Head is owned by American John Griffen and he and his team

are doing a fantastic job in restoring the natural environment.

Julian Robertson, another wealthy American, has transformed two windswept headlands, Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers, into worl class golf courses and provided much employment and financial stimulus in doing so.

Both of these men are mostly absent but are putting far more back into the land and the community than anyone else ever could.

I'm not against foreign investment of our land and indeed my own family came from England. But I'm with McKenzie and Key that we should not become tenants in our own country.

A rational middle path must be trod as the risks of the extremes of both sides of the argument are significant for our economy and our future.

• Steve Wyn-Harris is a Central Hawke's Bay sheep and beef farmer; swyn@xtra.co.nz

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