“The rest of the world is where we need to be,” ANZCO company founder Sir Graeme Harrison told a rural business network group in Methven last week.
Harrison acknowledged globalisation didn’t rest easily with recent public and political outcries over foreign investment in our farms and manufacturing plants, and quoted a television poll that indicated more than 75% of Kiwis wanted overseas investment rules tightened.
“The Prime Minister is concerned about the risk that New Zealanders will become tenants in their own land, but I don’t agree with that,” Harrison said.
“The reality is some people want to build a fortress around NZ, but at the same time be all too willing to take on debt.”
Dairy farm debt in 2003 was $11.3 billion. That had grown three-fold to $34.5b in 2015.
Harrison suggested it was no surprise the top five rural lenders – ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Rabobank and Westpac – were all foreign-owned.
“The fact is that we (Kiwis) haven’t saved to have our own banks.
The only way forward was through realising productivity growth through international trade.
“Agricultural trade policy had long been mysterious, often inexplicable, always exasperating and frequently counter to the long-term interest of a nation’s own agriculturalists. But the world would need 60% more animal-sourced foods by 2050, and (for NZ) trade will equal growth.”
World Bank estimates suggested only 10% of new demand could be met by new cropland and 20% from better use of existing cropland using existing technology. That meant 70% would have to come from new technology and policy innovation.
“We have the Korea-NZ free trade agreement (FTA), the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement and I am confident there will be announcement any day now on agreement to proceed the NZ-China FTA upgrade,” Harrison said.
“That’s a big job still to be done.”
The next steps in the TPP included legal verification, parliamentary treaty examination process, implementing legislation and entry into force.
“The day it comes into force, I will be popping champagne corks.”
