Crafar rival bidders planning to up ante

A Kiwi couple have been arrested in the United States after 5 kilos of cocaine was found in their cruise ship cabin. US Customs officials found the drugs in the cabin shared by Tony Wilkinson, 42, and Kirstie Harris, 25, in a routine check after the ship arrived at the Port of San Francisco from Curacao on January 25. A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said the ministry knew of the arrests and the pair were offered consular assistance. The group behind a New Zealand bid for Crafar farms will today raise the stakes by promising to match or better the rival Chinese bidder on a raft of promises that helped swing the Government’s approval.

The move comes as Prime Minister John Key signals a law change is unlikely in response to a High Court ruling which potentially sets a high bar on future purchases by foreign investors.

Mr Key said any law change was unlikely to get the numbers in Parliament – and United Future leader Peter Dunne, on whose vote any law change is likely to hinge, confirmed yesterday his support was not guaranteed.

But the Government also appears to have little stomach anyway for a political battle over freeing up foreign investment rules in the face of loud opposition from Labour, the Greens and NZ First.

The High Court this week set aside approval for Milk NZ, a company set up by China’s Shanghai Pengxin to buy the 16 Crafar farms and appeared to set a higher test for foreign land sales than the one that was previously believed to apply. It ordered the Overseas Investment Office to rethink the purchase under that new threshold.

The ruling followed a request for a judicial review by a farmer and iwi group led by Sir Michael Fay, which has put up a rival bid.

The ruling could have farreaching implications and has sparked warnings that the uncertainty will scare off foreign investors.

The Government is waiting for Crown Law advice on whether the ruling is as sweeping as some believe, and could yet decide to appeal against the decision despite initially rejecting that as unlikely.

That could be more palatable politically than a law change, which could pit the Government against popular opinion, despite the likelihood that an appeal could take years to resolve through the courts.

The iwi and farmer group led by Sir Michael is set to ratchet up the pressure today, meanwhile, by promising to honour any conditions imposed on Milk NZ by the Overseas Investment Office.

The High Court ruling this week said Milk NZ promised numerous non-economic benefits which no New Zealand buyers were required to offer and Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson had sworn an affidavit that these ‘‘particularly influenced him’’ in granting final approval.

Those conditions included offering riverbeds to the Crown, along with an historic pa site which the Office of Treaty Settlements wants to purchase, and protecting another pa site by covenant. Milk NZ would also create or facilitate public walking access to the Te Araroa Trail and the Taharua River and an unlogged podocarp forest and commission extensive habitat protection and riparian planting.

Other conditions agreed to by Milk NZ included scholarships and new jobs.

The Government has argued that it can’t force New Zealand buyers to match those conditions because they do not have to go through an approval process.