Saudi sheep court case mystery
Mystery surrounds a court case related to the controversial Saudi agribusiness hub, which is to be heard in the Auckland High Court on May 31.
Neither of the parties involved – Laurium Asset Management nor the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) – will reveal details of the hearing.
New Zealand spent $11.5 million on an agribusiness hub in Saudi Arabia in 2014.
In opposition, New Zealand First and Labour described $4m of that as a bribe to the farm’s owner, multi-millionaire Hmood Alali Al-Khalaf, to help advance the faltering free trade agreement (FTA) with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The deal with the six Gulf states had been put on hold in 2009, with the suggestion being that Al-Khalaf had stymied the FTA after being refused permission to export live sheep from New Zealand to the Middle East.
MFAT documents released in 2015 show Auckland-based Laurium suggested a solution to make progress on the FTA.
On August 22, 2011, Laurium principal Graeme Leversha wrote to MFAT head John Allen suggesting a Laurium sister company, Agricultural Estates, would manage the process of setting up satellite farms based in Malaysia and Sudan.
Sheep would be exported from New Zealand to the farms to create breeding stock, which would then be sent to Gulf states as ‘‘live exports’’.
The sheep would be sourced from a number of farms, including three Hawke’s Bay properties owned by Al-Khalaf, under the name of Awassi Land Holdings.
‘‘The Saudis get their live sheep, Awassi gets its business up and running, Agricultural Estates gets to grow its global agricultural consultancy business, Malaysia and Sudan get an increase in agricultural output, NZ increases its reputation for agricultural expertise (without the live sheep exports for slaughter), Laurium gets a seed investor for its fund, and Wellington gets credit for negotiating a FTA with the GCC,’’ Leversha wrote.
By October 12, 2011, MFAT prepared a paper for thenForeign Affairs Minister Murray McCully, proposing a ‘‘food security agreement’’ with Saudi Arabia.
It said Al-Khalaf, who had ‘‘substantive and diversified business interests in New Zealand . . . needs to become a part of any solution’’.
However it raised concerns about Laurium’s proposal to export stock to third countries, from which they would be sent to Saudi Arabia as live exports.
‘‘It is by no means certain that this would allay domestic concerns around the welfare of exported stock, as New Zealand would lose its means to control the conditions under which such stock were transported and eventually slaughtered.’’
Ultimately the contract for setting up the hub at Al-Khalaf’s Dammam farm was awarded to Brownrigg Agriculture, which is nearly a quarter owned by Awassi NZ Land Holdings.