Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Toby Williams: Federated Farmers spokesperson says rules are needed around levels of investment in Overseas Investment Act reforms

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Toby Williams: Federated Farmers spokesperson says rules are needed around levels of investment in Overseas Investment Act reforms · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Overseas investment rules are set to be loosened, with the
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Associate Financements to David Seymour calling our current rules quote
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the worst in the developed world and if you look
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: at the score, it's hard not to argue with. We
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: rank thirty eighth out of thirty eight countries in the
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: OECD for openness to investment. So once these rules are changed,
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  Speaker 1: and it's going to go before Cabinet, they've agreed principles already,
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  Speaker 1: it'll be done by the end of next year. Will
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  Speaker 1: we see a whole bunch of Kiwi farmland being sold off?
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  Speaker 1: I'm joined by Toby Williams, Fed Farmers Meet and wheelchair Toby.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. Good to have you on. What
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  Speaker 1: do you expect to see from this?
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  Speaker 2: We actually make supportive of these rule changes. What we
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  Speaker 2: had in the previous government. We actually had the special
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  Speaker 2: Forestry tests which took a balance away from between farming
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  Speaker 2: and the forestry, so it was only six weeks compared
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  Speaker 2: to two years to be able to buy a farm
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  Speaker 2: keeper farming in six weeks of forestry, so shortening this
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  Speaker 2: up as great down till probably about one year for either,
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  Speaker 2: but also having the balance between them so if you're
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  Speaker 2: going to buy farmlan for forestry or farmland to keep
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: farming is going to be the same test. And we're
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  Speaker 2: really supportive of Do.
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  Speaker 1: You think there's a lot of farmers wanting to sell
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  Speaker 1: to overseas buyers?
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  Speaker 2: Well, no, I don't think there's a lot of farms
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  Speaker 2: wanted to sell to overseas buyers. But you know, we're
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  Speaker 2: looking at a certain class of farm that overseas buyers
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  Speaker 2: is going to be interested in, and those are the
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  Speaker 2: bigger fans that really keevy farmers can't afford to buy. Anyway,
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  Speaker 2: we wouldn't expect foreign owners to be coming in buying
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  Speaker 2: up farms that first farm owners should be able to buy.
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  Speaker 2: So we expect see some rules in around there about
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  Speaker 2: the levels of investment that are going to be But
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  Speaker 2: what we've seen on thes Coast is basically foreign investment
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  Speaker 2: in the family and which stayed farming. Is there a
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  Speaker 2: massive boost for the regional economy and it's for the
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  Speaker 2: environment for the farm itself.
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  Speaker 1: Is there in terms of overall foreign ownership? Is there
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  Speaker 1: something that fed? Is there a number of FED farmers
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't be happy with I understand at the moment it's
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  Speaker 1: about ten percent of agricultural land in Australia's foreign ron.
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  Speaker 1: Ten percent of productive land here is owned by foreigners.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we haven't looked at that, if we're honest, and
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  Speaker 2: it's one of those things we have to look at
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  Speaker 2: the deeper to the rules to make sure that young
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  Speaker 2: farmers that still have the excess to be able to
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  Speaker 2: buy their farms. So we need to looking at levels.
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  Speaker 2: And if I use my own fan for example, you
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  Speaker 2: notice I'm very fortunate where I own, and the value
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  Speaker 2: of it means it's unlikely that a first fund buy
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  Speaker 2: if I was ever to sell it was be able
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  Speaker 2: to do it, or you know, a lot of key,
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  Speaker 2: we probably wouldn't be able to afford it either. So
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  Speaker 2: if we ever wanted to sell, you need to have
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  Speaker 2: that option to be able to realize the true value
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  Speaker 2: of it. I paid the value of the rates on
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  Speaker 2: those and everything that goes along with it. So if
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  Speaker 2: we're looking at the true value of the properties, need
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  Speaker 2: to make sure that the people are available to be
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  Speaker 2: able to do that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I suppose handing it on to the kids
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  Speaker 1: not always what it once was. The interest.
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  Speaker 2: No it's not, No, it's not. But we've just done
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  Speaker 2: now a number of years ago. So I've been very
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  Speaker 2: fortunate that Mum and Dad piger values in twenty seventeen
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  Speaker 2: and that meant that we'll actually be able to afford
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  Speaker 2: We missed that forestry rush, you know, the sugar rush
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  Speaker 2: of the cabin. Yeah, so much ink. So I'm very fortunate. However,
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  Speaker 2: we've got to hangover effect of it and dairy land surprise,
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  Speaker 2: and we haven't mixed you gone up very much in
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  Speaker 2: terms of value. Sheeven bee farms over the last twelve
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  Speaker 2: or sixty years have probably gone off about fifty percent
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  Speaker 2: in value what our profitabilities for them. So there's a
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  Speaker 2: real disparate balance for you.
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  Speaker 1: Toby, thanks for your time. Look forward to seeing the
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  Speaker 1: legislation when it's actually drafted. That's Toby Williams Fed Farmers
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  Speaker 1: Meet and Wheelchair that the legislation will go out and
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  Speaker 1: be done back through Parliament by the end of twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty five, according to David Seymour. For more from Early
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to News Talks it'd
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.