Foreigners buying NZ land for forestry

The Overseas Investment Office has granted a swathe of consents to foreign companies to buy existing forests, or farms to turn into forests.

Under one of its decisions, it has given a majority-owned Japanese company a ‘‘preapproval’’ right to buy up to

20,000 hectares of sensitive land without having to apply to the OIO.

The latest approvals include:

■ China Forestry Group New Zealand, $27.8 million for a freehold interest in 926ha at Highfield, Kai Iwi and Kirikopuni Forests in the North Island.

■ Austrian billionaire Wolfgang Leitner, $4.5m for a 489ha sheep and beef farm near Gisborne.

■ Austrian blueblood DI (FH) Johannes TrauttmansdorffWeinsberg, $7.2m for just over

1000ha, for a sheep and beef farm near Wairoa;

■ United Kingdom company New Zealand Forest Industries, payment withheld for 170ha at Whataroa Forest, Rotorua;

■ German and Swiss company Kauri Forestry, payment withheld, for 309ha near Whangarei, most of which is used for nonspecified farming.

Forestry Minister Shane Jones said that he will rein in the purchases.

The sales announcements come amid controversy that forestry is taking over too much agricultural land, and threats by Forestry Minister Shane Jones that he will rein in the purchases.

Lobby group 50 Shades of Green is organising a march on Parliament on November 14 to present its message to politicians that the blanket planting of good farmland has reached crisis proportions.

Pan Pac Forest Products is a consortium of Japanese, United States, United Kingdom and Belgium interests which already produces lumber at its Whirinaki and Milburn processing plants. It grows, processes and markets timber.

The OIO said in its decision it had granted a standing consent which would permit the company to buy up to 20,000ha of ‘‘yet to be identified sensitive land’’; and would be able to make a maximum of 25 transactions by October 1, 2022, which was the duration of the standing consent.

‘‘This standing consent will act as a form of pre-approval whereby the applicant must notify the OIO each time it settles a transaction in relation to this standing consent.’’

Austrian Leitner is described by Forbes magazine as a $2.6 billion self-made success who heads plant and equipment manufacturer Andritz.

Ngapuke Station was sold to him by Christene Anne Waddell and the Ngapuke Station Trustee Company. Leitner will plant about 390ha as a commercial forest.