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Stuart Nash: Former Labour Cabinet Minister on golden visas taking off · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So the Golden visas have gone gangbusters. Apparently, nearly two
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: hundred applications from foreign investors have been received since the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: scheme was launched in April, so it's only been three months.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: One hundred of those have been approved. In principle, seven
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: applications have already invested. Applicants rather invested their money and
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: been granted visas. Stuart Nash, by the way, by comparison,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: there was only just over one hundred and two and
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: a half years to this category. Stuart Nash, former Labor
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Cabinet minister who launched the Golden Visas back in twenty
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: twenty two, is with us this morning. Stuart, Good morning,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Ron. How are you Yeah, good, thank you.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: So does this mean that the sort of kick up
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the JACKXI, the loosening of the rules is worked.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: It seems to have worked, But it's also you know,
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: all the geopolitical uncertainly that's going on in the world
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: at the moment. I mean, you've just talked to your
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: guy about Iran and the US. We've got a lot
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: of lot going on in American domestic politics. Obviously, we've
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: got the British Prime Minister talk about putting his forces on,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: you know, a sort of a higher alert. You've got
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: the South China Sea, obviously, you've got the tinder which
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: is the Middle East. So you know, we're a bit
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: of an oasis at the bottom of the world at
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  Speaker 2: the moment.
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  Speaker 1: And this is potentially an eight hundred and forty five
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: million dollars of new investment for US if they all convert.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Do we know what the conversion rate normally is for
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  Speaker 1: visas like this.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's very high. Keeping in mind these people have
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: to pay quite a lot of money to get the
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: visa in the first place. They've gone through quite a
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  Speaker 2: rigorous process because the one thing that we wanted to
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  Speaker 2: ensure was that everyone coming to New Zealand had integrity.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: And by that I mean you've got to prove that
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: the money you've got has been gained by the legitimate means.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: You've got to do a health test, you got to
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: do a police test. So it's quite a rigorous process
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: to actually put the visa in. So the conversion rate
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: is very high. For once you apply to the visas
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: being submitted and then approval, what.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Do they do when they get here.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Well, they've got six months to invest their money and
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  Speaker 2: keeping in mind a lot of these well over fifty
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: percent of coming from the United States. So you're allowed
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: to put your money in a managed fund to start with,
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: or you can put your money directed into equities or bonds,
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: or into directed into a company if you're really what.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: So there are two classes of people, really Ryan and
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: there were those who were seeking permanent residency who don't
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: necessarily want to immigrate here, and then there were those
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: who want to immigate here. Two different pathways. So you know,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: if you're part of the growth category, you only have
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: to spend three which over three years. But what we
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: tend to find is that once you've invested your five
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: million or you're three million in US and you come
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: over here, after a while, you you fall in love
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  Speaker 2: with the place and you tend to immigrate or spend
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: more time here than the minimum.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: This is a net positive for New Zealand. I mean,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: we're getting a lot of text saying and why do
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: we need these rich Americans coming here who are escaping
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Trump and using US as some kind of bunker. I mean,
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: the benefits to us far out weigh the costs of
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: having right.
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  Speaker 2: I don't see any downside to this now, we're not
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: getting people coming here like Peter Tail. Remember that very
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: wealthy American who came over here, bought a property, was
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: given citizenship up to about eleven days. This is not
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: that skin. These are people who required to invest five
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: million kiwi or three million US and the growth fund
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: or ten million kiwi or six million US and the
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: balance fund. They're contributing in a way that adds value
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: that now it's not just about the money. Also, for me,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: fifty percent of it is about the connections, the networks
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  Speaker 2: they experience, the competencies, the capabilities these men and women bring,
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  Speaker 2: and keeping in mind if they're actively investing, by and large,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of them take a very active interest in
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  Speaker 2: the companies they're investing in, so this is there is
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: no downside. Also, keep in mind that they're not competing
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: with Kiwis for fate houses. We're talking about the very
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: wealthy here. They're not you know that they're buying down
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: in Queenstown or up north or on the northern slopes
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: of Humbe if they decide to immigrate here. So that
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: for me, there is absolutely no downside. And keeping in
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: mind capital has always been mobile. These people are looking
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: for a home for themselves. In the past, most of
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: them have sort tax havens. At the moment, a lot
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: of them are seeking safe havements, which is what news.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: But like I said, they're investing a lot of money here.
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  Speaker 2: They've been part of our community, part of our economy,
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  Speaker 2: and there's a it's just fantastic, man. I think there's
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: no downside.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Stuart, appreciate your time this morning. Stuart Nash, former Labor
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Cabinet Minister. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge,
• 4:16
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• 4:19
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