Investment welcomed but at what cost?

The Abbot government in Australia is in the final stages of establishing an official farm ownership register, which will be rigorously monitored ‘‘to safeguard Australia’s interests.’’ New Zealand should follow suit on farm land – and residential property, given it too is subject to the great and fevered unknown.

But as Shanghai Pengxin sizes up Lochinver Station, Federated Farmers has emerged as the voice value-add processing, to supermarket sale. From the farms they own here, to the supermarkets they run back home, Shanghai Pengxin scoop all the loot generated along the way. Virtually every other major Chinese dairy firm (Mengniu, Yashili, Yili and Wahaha) wants to leverage off New Zealand brand imagery, by owning processing facilities here, too. But under this model, how much value or profit accrues to local farmers, let alone NZ Inc? Where is the evidence such foreign owned and vertically integrated entities, deliver ‘‘a substantial and identifiable benefit’’ to our economy?

Federated Farmers president, William Rolleston welcomes overseas investment and savvy joint ventures, but is profoundly perturbed by vertical ownership of both land and processing plant, by one foreign entity.

Why should we allow foreign dairy corporates to compete against Fonterra, in our own backyard, and against our own dairy farmers, with the profits gushing offshore?

Regardless of who prevails on September 20, the concerns are legitimate and the incoming government must act in the national interest.