Kerre Woodham: Keep the land in Kiwi hands

May Wang. Photo / Natalie Slade

I don't understand how a failed businesswoman can be a leading contender to take over a serious chunk of New Zealand farmland.

As I see it, when that dreadful man Allan Crafar was given enough rope by PGG Wrightson and various banks to hang himself, a whole lot of prime New Zealand farmland came on to the open market.

The farms - primarily dairy but some dry stock as well - were valued by receivers at more than $200million.

Enter May Wang, the frontwoman for Hong Kong-based company Natural Dairy Holdings (NZ) Limited. She snapped up four of the Crafar farms and then Natural Dairy put in a bid to buy the rest.

The company has big plans. It wants to produce and export 150 million packs of UHT milk from New Zealand's verdant pastures to the tables of China and there are promises of 92 jobs to be created. Where Wang thinks she'll find the workers is another matter.

Farmers have struggled to find Kiwis willing to work on their farms and have had to resort to hiring labour offshore, but that's by the by.

Natural Dairy's plans are ambitious and daring - just as Wang's plans were with her property developing company, the Destiny Group.

However, Destiny Group went tits up a couple of years ago, leaving Westpac and investors $20m out of pocket.

She settled with her creditors - at slightly more than 2 cents in the dollar - leaving her free to put that failure behind her and focus on another bold new vision.

And she thinks people who carp on about her failed investments should give it a rest.

"I do not believe my previous business difficulties should be used against a project that will only bring benefits to this country. I would like to say that even if I have failed with my previous business, why couldn't I be successful in business again?"

That's the spirit, love. You and Rod Petricevic should get together for a bit of a mutual moan about how tough it is to be a tall poppy in this country.

There seems to be no value in handing over a valuable and potentially profitable New Zealand business to overseas interests. I hope Landcorp's bid succeeds.

So, too, does John Key, who understands the political imperatives of ensuring the land stays in New Zealand hands.

Landcorp at least can hold on to the properties and sell them, later, for a better price or keep them as working farms returning profits to the Government.

If I was a dairy farmer, I would be concerned to see an overseas consortium trading on the reputation that our dairy products have built over the years. Our dairy farmers have more to lose than land.