In April 2019 the Treasury launched a public consultation on the reform of the Overseas Investment (OI) Act 2005.

The complete consultation document can be downloaded from our Archives.

FMC’s main interest in the OI Act resides in being able to gain or retain access through private land to reach Public Conservation Land beyond it. FMC therefore wrote a comprehensive submission on the proposed OI Act reform.

The main points in FMC’s submission are the following:

• all land adjacent to National Parks, river beds and marginal strips, other Public Conservation Land and Regional Parks needs to be classified as sensitive adjoining land.
• all leases (including short-term leases) should be included in the Overseas Investment Office’s (OIO) screening process.
• the provision of public access needs to be considered as part of the processes of screening the impact of an OI.
• the screening process needs to consider net benefit of an investment – both the positives, and the negatives.
• a royalty regime needs to be introduce for the export of water.
• an investor’s tax history needs to be added to the requirements of a good character test.
• all sales of farmland need to be publicly advertised prior to sale, thus giving New Zealanders an opportunity to bid.