New Zealanders are being priced out of farming by foreign corporations, Labour Leader David Shearer said after an iwi group seeking to buy three farms from Shanghai Pengxin claimed the Chinese company wanted too much money for the land.
Interests associated with King Country iwi Ngati Rereahu and central north island iwi Tuwharetoa this morning said Shanghai Pengxin was seeking the "ridiculous" sum of $66.5 million for three of the 16 farms it bought earlier this year for a total believed to be just over $200m. The iwi interests believe the three farms, which include areas of cultural significance farms, are worth about $45m.
The price sought by Shanghai Pengxin showed "Kiwi farmers are being priced out of the market by foreign corporate buyers", Mr Shearer said.
"Kiwi farmers who are the best in the world at what they do simply can't afford to buy good land in their own country because large valuable tracts are being sold off to overseas buyers under this Government."
That was why Labour was promoting legislation to ensure foreign buyers couldn't purchase land here "unless the benefits are greater than a New Zealand investor could produce and it brings substantial job creation and increases in exports".