CRAFAR FARMS: There probably is a god

[AnFaolchudubh]

I guess they can buy the King Country back - one farm at a time.

At the going rates

[nitpicker1]

...LATEST: Ministers could be calling in their own legal advice on the Crafar farms sale within days as the Overseas Investment Office presses ahead with a plan to file a fresh recommendation on a Chinese bid for the farms this week.

Last night the sale became an even hotter political issue for the Government after a new poll suggested three-quarters of New Zealanders want tougher rules on the sale of land to foreign investors...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/6451559/Ministers-may-get-own-legal-advice-on-Crafar-sale

[nitpicker1]

Crafar farms appeal
ANDREA FOX
 Last updated 12:36 21/02/2012

The Court of Appeal is the next stop for the Crafar farms sale saga, with Sir Michael Fay's rival buying group asking the court to review part of a recent High Court decision around Government consent for a Chinese company to buy the big dairy farming estate.

Fay's group of farmers and iwi want the opportunity to challenge the Overseas Investment Office's application of the business experience and acumen test in the Overseas Investment Act when it assessed the Shanghai Pengxin  application, says lawyer David Cooper of Bell Gully.

Justice Forrest Miller, whose judgment earlier this month partly supported a Fay group judicial review challenge to the OIO consent recommendation, effectively turning the Government's consent for the Chinese bid on its head, did not support an aspect of the challenge relating to the business experience and acumen test.

Cooper says his clients are happy with the outcome of Justice Miller's decision, but remain concerned that the OIO did not correctly apply the business experience and acumen test to the Pengxin application.

"The appeal does not affect the High Court's order setting aside the Minister's decisions which was made for the separate reason that the OIO and the Ministers misapplied the (economic) 'benefits' test in the Act," Cooper says.

Justice Miller ordered the OIO and consenting Government ministers to rethink their approval for the Chinese purchase in relation to the Act's requirement that purchasers of sensitive New Zealand land have relevant experience and acumen.   

Shanghai Pengxin is a real estate development company with agribusiness investments, but no dairy farming experience. 

 http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/6454210/Crafar-farms-appeal


precisely.  Justice Miller ordered the OIO and consenting Government ministers to rethink their approval for the Chinese purchase in relation to the Act's requirement that purchasers of sensitive New Zealand land have relevant experience and acumen.   

Shanghai Pengxin is a real estate development company with agribusiness investments, but no dairy farming experience.

as I pointed out

COMMENT: OIO judicial review threat not a moment too soon
Thursday, 19 January 2012, 12:22 pm
Article: BusinessDesk



COMMENT: OIO judicial review threat not a moment too soon

By Pattrick Smellie

Jan. 19 (BusinessDesk) – Today’s threat to seek a judicial review of the secretive process the Overseas Investment Office has used to assess the Shanghai Pengxin Corporation bid for the Crafar farms is not a moment too soon.

It helps too that the deep pockets of Sir Michael Fay are committed to back such a review, which would be the first the OIO has ever faced.

Sir Michael’s tactics for trying to wrest the Crafar farms from the arms of Pengxin, the highest bidder, reeks of self-interest. He’d love to buy some farmland for less than another bidder, and success would help return him from pariah to hero status among New Zealanders.

The lack of challenges to OIO decisions since its establishment since 2005 has allowed this midget agency to become a virtually unaccountable law unto itself in the politically charged area of “sensitive” land sales to foreigners.
 
The suspicion has grown that it’s informally added political factors to the criteria it applies to controversial bids such as Pengxin’s, which has drifted through a general election and now is hard up against a Jan. 31 deadline from the Crafar farms’ receivers to make its bid unconditional – a hard ask without an OIO decision.

Meanwhile, it closely guards the detail of its assessments on such key questions as the applicant’s good character, relevant business experience, and plans to add net economic benefit to New Zealand.

Even appeals to the Ombudsman’s Office have failed to prise such information out of the OIO, because of the claimed commercial sensitivity of the information and the potential damage to foreign investor appetite for New Zealand from releasing it.

As a result, a government agency operating in one of the most sensitive areas of public policy has also become one of the least transparent and accountable. Unlike the Foreign Investment Board in Australia, it has no board or governance, beyond reporting through to senior managers at Land Information New Zealand, which has housed the OIO since it was taken out of the Reserve Bank nearly seven years ago.

Yet its budget has been increased substantially in the last two years, along with the fees it charges applicants, even though it apparently lacks in-house expertise in economic modelling, business strategy, or personal character investigations.

Asked why it has taken nine months so far to assess the Pengxin bid, it will say no more than that it’s “complex”.

At this stage, the path of least resistance for the OIO may be to allow the Jan. 31 unconditional bid deadline to lapse, having failed to make any recommendation on the bid at all.

That might open the way for the Crafar receivers, KordaMentha, to open discussions with the low-ball bid from the Fay consortium. If that happened, the judicial review would probably disappear.

While Pengxin might box on with its bid, it might equally decide New Zealand has a rigged regime that opposes politically “unacceptable” Asian investors and take its money elsewhere.

Other Asian investors would take the hint, to the long term detriment of New Zealand, which not only needs foreign capital to grow, but also deeper relations with the part of the world that’s not only on the rise, but also on our doorstep.

But best of all, from the OIO’s perspective, no one would have been able to look under the hood at the job they’ve been doing.
 
(BusinessDesk)

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1201/S00356/comment-oio-judicial-review-threat-not-a-moment-too-soon.htm




While Pengxin might box on with its bid, it might equally decide New Zealand has a rigged regime that opposes politically “unacceptable” Asian investors and take its money elsewhere.

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711459
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711322
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711336
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=41268057
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711345

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=41268057

I hope that OIO has better research tools than that   

Zhang Fuqiang serves as Assistant to President of Shanghai Pengxin Group Co., Ltd. Zhang Fuqiang has been Chairman and Director of Shanghai Synica Corporation Ltd. since February 11, 2011.
maybe they're still doing a character check on the members of the board?
 

Check the links, hear the penny drop

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711459
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711322
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711336
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=41268057
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=52711345

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/people.asp?privcapId=41268057

I hope that OIO has better research tools than that   


 Mining ‐‐Pengxin’s biggest mining venture is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it has invested more than $US 350 million in a majority share of a copper deposit estimated to contain 350,000 tonnes, with production to begin this year. It also has exploration rights for areas totalling 1000 square kilometres.

http://www.btob.co.nz/article/overseas-bidder-crafar-farms-promises-full-details-when-application-approval-lodged?page=0,0

seems to me they have more mining than dairing expertise 

[nitpicker1]

Maori to file claim on Crafar farm deal
1 comments | Post Comment 

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 2:39p.m.

Central North Island iwi say they should have been offered one of the Crafar farms and may mount a new legal challenge to block sale of the farms to Chinese investors.

Trusts representing Tu Wharetoa and Ngati Rereahu are questioning the role of state-owned-enterprise Landcorp and the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) in the sale of the 16 Crafar farms to the Shanghai Pengxin Group.

The sale was halted by the High Court following a legal challenge by a Michael Fay-led group, including the Maori trusts, also wanting to buy the 16 farms.

State-owned Landcorp was lined up to manage the farms on behalf of Shanghai Pengxin and the OIO will now have to revisit its decision to approve the deal.

Hardie Peni, chairman of the Tiroa E and Te Hape B trusts, said Landcorp's focus on its commercial interests was effectively locking iwi out of an opportunity to purchase central North Island land illegally obtained in the 1800s.

Maori earlier this month occupied one of the farms, near Benneydale, 35km southeast of Te Kuiti, saying it was stolen from them in the 19th Century.
There were 200 protesters there at the weekend, Mr Peni said.

Today he said the trusts had taken on Maori issues specialist lawyer James Johnston to investigate their claims, and a claim may be filed later this week.

Mr Johnston said the trusts, which had ancestral links to the land, could afford to buy the land and that should have carried weight with the agencies.

Tauhara Whenua Trust representative Nigel Baker said Landcorp had been less than open about its dealings with the Chinese company.
"It's clear Landcorp has been in the thick of negotiations with Shanghai Pengxin and the OIO," said Mr Baker.
"This needs to be investigated further and we will be asking the court to look closely at this deal and Landcorp's role."
NZN

http://www.3news.co.nz/Maori-to-file-claim-on-Crafar-farm-deal/tabid/423/articleID/244380/Default.aspx

[AnFaolchudubh]

Maori to file claim on Crafar farm deal
1 comments | Post Comment 

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 2:39p.m.

Central North Island iwi say they should have been offered one of the Crafar farms and may mount a new legal challenge to block sale of the farms to Chinese investors.

Trusts representing Tu Wharetoa and Ngati Rereahu are questioning the role of state-owned-enterprise Landcorp and the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) in the sale of the 16 Crafar farms to the Shanghai Pengxin Group.

The sale was halted by the High Court following a legal challenge by a Michael Fay-led group, including the Maori trusts, also wanting to buy the 16 farms.

State-owned Landcorp was lined up to manage the farms on behalf of Shanghai Pengxin and the OIO will now have to revisit its decision to approve the deal.

Hardie Peni, chairman of the Tiroa E and Te Hape B trusts, said Landcorp's focus on its commercial interests was effectively locking iwi out of an opportunity to purchase central North Island land illegally obtained in the 1800s.

Maori earlier this month occupied one of the farms, near Benneydale, 35km southeast of Te Kuiti, saying it was stolen from them in the 19th Century.
There were 200 protesters there at the weekend, Mr Peni said.

Today he said the trusts had taken on Maori issues specialist lawyer James Johnston to investigate their claims, and a claim may be filed later this week.

Mr Johnston said the trusts, which had ancestral links to the land, could afford to buy the land and that should have carried weight with the agencies.

Tauhara Whenua Trust representative Nigel Baker said Landcorp had been less than open about its dealings with the Chinese company.
"It's clear Landcorp has been in the thick of negotiations with Shanghai Pengxin and the OIO," said Mr Baker.
"This needs to be investigated further and we will be asking the court to look closely at this deal and Landcorp's role."
NZN

http://www.3news.co.nz/Maori-to-file-claim-on-Crafar-farm-deal/tabid/423/articleID/244380/Default.aspx

God loves a tryer

[nitpicker1]

selected quotes from

Chinese offer feedback on Crafar bid
ANDREA FOX
Last updated 10:30 01/03/2012

The Overseas Investment Office says it is continuing to work its way through its its High Court-ordered reconsideration of consent for a Chinese company to buy the Crafar farms, having received new feedback from the Chinese.

The OIO invited the Shanghai Pengxin company to comment on a submission from a New Zealand rival bidding group led by Sir Michael Fay. ...

...The summary said the Chinese company intended to form a 50:50 joint venture with state-owned enterprise Landcorp to develop and manage the farms for Pengxin. ...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/6505449/Chinese-offer-feedback-on-Crafar-bid


Has this turned into a telephone auction?

State-owned Landcorp was lined up to manage the farms on behalf of Shanghai Pengxin,  according to  Mess #103.  I thought that meant Landcorp would be paid for doing the managing of the farms.  Silly me.

This 50-50 joint venture deal with Landcorp seems a newie ... so how will Landcorp pay for their 50% share, and where are they finding the capital  

ummmmm


 Is Landcorp on the list of sacrificial SOEs?

[Calliope]

National faces a backlash from heartland supporters over the sale of the Crafar dairy farms to a Chinese buyer, with many vowing they will never vote for the party again.

Government ministers approved the sale of the 16 North Island farms to Milk New Zealand Holdings, a subsidiary of Shanghai Pengxin, in January.

Many National backers have written to Prime Minister John Key to express their distaste for the deal, with more than 100 emails or letters opposed to the sale, the Sunday Star Times reports.

"I personally feel that such sales are an act of treason and gross betrayal of trust and will not be voting National next election," one letter says.

Another reads: "As far as I am concerned the National Government is selling us down the river. I have been a National Party supporter for 45 years and my family before me. Never again.

"The agreement to sell the Crafar Farms to Asians when New Zealanders wanted to buy them is the final nail in the coffin for me."

Meanwhile, it has also been revealed that the farms were offered for sale individually in Asia, despite potential New Zealand buyers being told the farms could only be sold profitably in a bulk deal.

The advertisements, in the South China Morning Post and Singapore's Straits Times, were released to the Sunday Star Times by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) under the Official Information Act.

The ads described the farms as "one of the largest and most highly anticipated rural portfolios to ever come to the market in New Zealand".

"A significant opportunity to invest in New Zealand's rural and dairy sector. Farms are for sale individually or as a portfolio."

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/13079933/national-voters-reject-crafar-farm-deal/

[nitpicker1]

   Meanwhile, it has also been revealed that the farms were offered for sale individually in Asia, despite potential New Zealand buyers being told the farms could only be sold profitably in a bulk deal.
The advertisements, in the South China Morning Post and Singapore's Straits Times, were released to the Sunday Star Times by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) under the Official Information Act.

The ads described the farms as "one of the largest and most highly anticipated rural portfolios to ever come to the market in New Zealand".

"A significant opportunity to invest in New Zealand's rural and dairy sector. Farms are for sale individually or as a portfolio."

TYFT, Calliope

I feel a e-mail coming on:

nzfirst.info@gmail.com

http://maoriparty.org/index.php?pag=cms&id=117&p=contact-us.html

metiria.turei@parliament.govt.nz

robin.gunston@gmail.com   he's the president of united futures party, whose Peter Dunne is the linchpin* that holds the Asset Sales hopes in his hands.  

*not to be confused with LYNCH  , lynch   -

definition of linchpin by the Free Online Dictionary ...

www.thefreedictionary.com/linchpin

linch·pin or lynch·pin (l nch p n ). n. 1. A locking pin inserted in the end of a shaft, as in an axle, to prevent a wheel from slipping off. 2. A central cohesive ...

Then of course we've got the PM-in-Waiting:

bill.english@national.org.nz




awww sh** I feel a lotta e-mails  

coming on  

[nitpicker1]

re http://xtranewscommunity2.smfforfree.com/index.php/topic,8172.0/msg,128259.html

I have re-sent the following to the three out of the five original recipients whose robots failed to acknowledge e-mails sent 4th March


With all due respect, please tell me : What are you going to do about this?
quote from
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/13079933/national-voters-reject-crafar-farm-deal/
Meanwhile, it has also been revealed that the farms were offered for sale individually in Asia, despite potential New Zealand buyers being told the farms could only be sold profitably in a bulk deal.

The advertisements, in the South China Morning Post and Singapore's Straits Times, were released to the Sunday Star Times by the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) under the Official Information Act.

The ads described the farms as "one of the largest and most highly anticipated rural portfolios to ever come to the market in New Zealand".

"A significant opportunity to invest in New Zealand's rural and dairy sector. Farms are for sale individually or as a portfolio."


from xxx

67 xxx

RDxxx

9xxx

Phone xxxx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

nemmind, 'spose they've got other asset sales on their minds now

[Calliope]

I read somewhere this morning that another 61 sales had been put on hold. The area was near Gisborne and would have been something like the area of Tauranga in size.

I have searched for it but cant find it but I know it wasn't a figment of my imagination.

[nitpicker1]

I think that would have been Liz Lambert, tried to prove she had bought the Crafar properties for $1, wanted to put the Crafars back on the farms.  The case was umm thrown out of court, she was ordered to pay Court costs.


BBS, busy

[nitpicker1]

calliope, see http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/5612643/Crafar-farms-sold-for-1-each, there is also a 50-sumpin-minute vid regarding the "Crafar sale", at ,

she says she is a lawyer by training.  Yeahbut ummmmm

I watched a bit of it, but decided I would leave it till later. ... perhaps.
 


BTWOIO review of Crafar farm sales delayed
 
Updated at 2:24 pm today
 
The Overseas Investment Office's hope that it would be able to reassess a decision on the Crafar farms sale in a few days, has turned out to be too optimistic.
 
The High Court ruled on 15 February that the Government will have to reconsider its approval of the sale of the 16 farms to the Chinese company, Shanghai Pengxin, using a different economic benefit test.
 
That judicial review was called for by a New Zealand farmer and iwi group which wants its own bid for the farms accepted.
 
The group has also gone to the Court of Appeal, arguing that the Chinese buyers do not have the qualifications required to run dairy farms.
 
The OIO says that appeal has contributed to the delay of its reassessment and recommendation to the Government on whether the sale should proceed.
 
A spokesperson for the office says the High Court ruling has also affected its assessment of other applications by foreigners for the purchase of New Zealand farmland.
 
It has asked all applicants to submit information on the impact the decision may have on their cases.
 
The office says it cannot predict how long it will take to reassess the Crafar farm recommendation.

 
Copyright © 2012, Radio New Zealand

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/100323/oio-review-of-crafar-farm-sales-delayed

 

[Calliope]

A spokesperson for the office says the High Court ruling has also affected its assessment of other applications by foreigners for the purchase of New Zealand farmland.
 

It was something to do with these other purchases - 61 lots comprising an area the size of Palmerston North or Tauranga, somewhere in the Gisborne area. But I am damned if I can now reloacte the story.

[nitpicker1]

A spokesperson for the office says the High Court ruling has also affected its assessment of other applications by foreigners for the purchase of New Zealand farmland.
 
It was something to do with these other purchases - 61 lots comprising an area the size of Palmerston North or Tauranga, somewhere in the Gisborne area. But I am damned if I can now reloacte the story.

I  guess this must be it?    

16,000 hectares of NZ land sold to foreigners      
7 comments

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 6:26a.m.
 

A total of 16,000 hectares of sensitive land is being sold to foreigners.
 
The multi-million-dollar plots of land are scattered around the country - mainly near Gisborne in the North Island.
 
Forty-one offshore buyers are seeking Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval to purchase the land, but their bids are in limbo, as the OIO awaits legal advice following a contentious High Court ruling over the Crafar farms.
 
Labour Leader David Shearer says the revelations are shocking:

“[It’s an] enormous amount of land and valuable land to New Zealand. It’s the size of Tauranga or Palmerston North. We need to be really careful about this.”
 
The Overseas Investment Office says it is reviewing each application to buy land on a case-by-case basis in light of the High Court ruling.
 
RadioLIVE

http://www.3news.co.nz/16000-hectares-of-NZ-land-sold-to-foreigners/tabid/423/articleID/245423/Default.aspx


  

[nitpicker1]

Farm sales 'not raised' in talks with Chinese leader
 
Updated at 2:09 pm on 17 April 2012
 
Acting Prime Minister Bill English says the Crafar farms deal was not raised in talks on Monday with a senior Chinese leader.
 
China's fourth-ranked political leader, Jia Qinglin, is in New Zealand for a four day visit.
 
He met cabinet ministers at the Beehive on Monday afternoon, before witnessing the signing of an agreement to promote investment between China and New Zealand.  ...

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/103513/farm-sales-'not-raised'-in-talks-with-chinese-leader

so what's happening


in


Indonesia

[nitpicker1]

Ministers to approve Crafar sale: reports

20:37 Wed Apr 18 2012
by
AAP

The government will approve the sale of the Crafar farms to Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin for the second time on Friday, according to a report.

The deal for the 16 North Island farms - making up about 10,000 hectares - would be confirmed by the end of the week, 3News reported, citing unnamed sources.

Government ministers have previously said they expect to make a decision over the deal by the end of April.

Online predictions market, Victoria University's iPredict, also says its traders expect the sale's confirmation on Friday, and for it to go unconditional by the end of next week.

That's the view of its 6500 registered traders, who believe there is a 66 per cent probability the ministers' decision will be announced on Friday.

They also believe there is a 74 per cent probability the decision will allow the Chinese owners to achieve fee simple title over the properties.

In January, ministers Maurice Williamson and Jonathan Coleman approved the sale of the farms to Shanghai Pengxin but a High Court judge ordered them to reconsider their decision after a rival consortium sought a judicial review.

Justice Forrest Miller ruled that the ministers "materially overstated" the economic benefit of the transaction to the New Zealand economy.

If the deal - reportedly worth $210 million - is again approved, it could be subject to further court action from the Crafar Farms Purchase Group, led by businessman Sir Michael Fay, which has offered $171.5m for the farms.

http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8453584/ministers-to-approve-crafar-sale-reports

My spirit guide says "There's a 99.99 per cent probability the decision will allow the Chinese owners to achieve fee simple title over the properties, and there is a 50% probability Shanghai Pengxin will decline acceptance, given the current indications of the dramatic fall of prices.." he tells me to  go look at http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/6770271/Price-drop-sparks-Fonterra-payout-fears and http://www.odt.co.nz/news/business/205989/farmers-head-issues-lower-milk-price-warning 

I ask him if that's good or bad, 'cos HB milk at my supermarket was DOWN 1c to $3.89 for 2 litres a coupla days ago.

He shrugs and disappears.   

[Calliope]

Crafar farms sale approved

LATEST: The controversial Crafar Farms sale to Chinese investors has again been approved by the Government.

Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson and Associate Finance Minister Jonathan Coleman this morning announced they have approved the new recommendation of the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to grant consent to the Chinese-owned Milk New Zealand Holding Limited to acquire the 16 Crafar farms.

"We have sought to apply the law in accordance with the provisions of the Overseas Investment Act and the guidance of the High Court," Williamson said.

"We have carefully considered the OIO's new recommendation."

The OIO sought advice from Crown Law and independent legal advice from David Goddard QC. The Ministers also sought advice and clarification from Goddard.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Well what else did you expect?

The Nats are determined to flog off ENZED to the highest bidder.

A Nats leopard NEVER, EVER changes its spots.

At least that other mob (Labour) got rid of the “flog off everything brigade” to ACT, and learnt the error of their ways.

Those scumbag Nats will NEVER change their ways....and Ruth Richardson wrote a column for the NZ Herald recently which PROVES that the Nats/ACT mob still think shafting ordinary NZers is normal behaviour, just so long as their mates are enriching themselves.

[nitpicker1]

Earlier, probably in this thread, I have commented that the only way - according to NZ govt regs re overseas investment  - the deal could be refused is if Shanghai Pengxin group owner had been convicted of a crime that could result in a sentence of 2 years imprisonment.

It was easy to track down Chinese-born New Zealand citizen May Wang's bad character through the net,  not so with this SP group. As far as I am concerned, I think a NZ citizen should have every right to buy NZ farmland under existing OIO rules.. as long as of good character.

I can find no reference to NZ citizenship being held by Jiang Zhaobai or any of the SP group.

I missed this (with my added emphasis and typo comment):


Diplomats clear Crafar farms buyer of underworld links

Friday April 20, 2012

Crafar Farms sale to Chinese buyers approved
 

BUSINESSDESK: New Zealand diplomats working with China’s Ministry of Public Security cleared Jiang Zhaobai, owner of Crafar Farms buyer Shanghai Pengxin Group, of a historic underworld connection in validating (ummmm TYPO?? probably not?) his good character, according to approval documents.
 
A diplomat at the New Zealand embassy in Beijing was tasked with checking out an anonymous submission that claimed Mr Jiang had links with a Shanghai gang boss, Xiao di Zhou.
 
The diplomat, whose name was blacked out from the public version of the document, made inquiries with China’s Ministry of Public Security, which had no record of any convictions in respect of Mr Jiang or Shanghai Pengxin, the Land Information NZ report said.
The embassy official did confirm a historic connect between Shanghai Pengxin and Xiao.
 
“SPGL and Mr Xiao both appear to have acquired land from a corrupt official – the official did not own the land and had no right to sell it,” the report said.
 
“There was no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of SPGL.”
The embassy official said there was evidence Xiao committed offences, including hiring someone to assault a business associate.
 
Xiao is serving 14 years' jail related to illegal land sales and assault.
 
Other directors of the companies in the group, which includes Shanghai Pengxin, were given the all clear in terms of the good character test, the report said.
 
Mr Jiang, a Shanghai-based property and diversified investor, is listed as China’s 284th richest man, according to Forbes.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/diplomats-clear-crafar-farms-buyer-underworld-links-wb-117254


Now let's have a look at the character of the diplomat, whose name was blacked out from the public version of the document   

[Newtown-Fella]

has anyone noticed a lack of comment from the maoris over this ....

surely in amongst all these farms there has to be one that they claim is rightly [ or wrongly ] theirs ....

just a random thought

[nitpicker1]

has anyone noticed a lack of comment from the maoris over this ....

surely in amongst all these farms there has to be one that they claim is rightly [ or wrongly ] theirs ....

just a random thought

ya don't see it because ya ain't looking!
go google keywords   crafar farms Māori   (awiye btw) leave the "s"  off the word   real Enzedders spell it Māori whether as plural or as singular   
     

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

[Calliope]

Another legal challenge against the sale of the Crafar Farms has been confirmed by rival Kiwi bidders.

The Crafar Farms Purchase Group, led by Sir Michael Fay, this morning said it had lodged a fresh appeal against the sale questioning the business acumen of Chinese investors Shanghai Pengxin.

The group's lawyer David Cooper said the latest claim in the High Court was against the Government's updated decision to re-approve the sale on April 20.

The grounds for appeal were the same as those already lodged with the Court of Appeal on February 20 over the government's original approval of the sale.

"Technically the two court proceedings are separate. They concern the same grounds for challenge, but we have to lodge a new proceeding so that the challenge also applies to the second decision by the Government," Cooper said.

"It may be possible to expedite the process by having the two proceedings merged and heard together in the Court of Appeal, and we will be looking into that."

The group was successful in an earlier legal challenge over the application of the economic tests in approving the Chinese bid.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/6817270/Crafar-appeal-confirmed

[nitpicker1]

Crafar banks on Indian money
GREG NINNESS
Last updated 15:00 30/04/2012

Allan Crafar is nothing if not persistent.

Just days after the Overseas Investment Office approved the sale of his farming empire to Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin, the straight-talking dairy farmer confirmed he is in discussions to stitch up a financing deal and wrest control of his central North Island farms from receivers.

The Sunday Star-Times understands those discussions involve a major Indian bank, which would also fund construction of an associated milk powder factory.

Crafar has the right to take back control of the farms, provided he repays the debt on them and the costs associated with the receivership.

The Crafar farms were placed receivership in October 2009, owing Westpac, Rabobank and PGG Wrightson $194 million, but, by October last year, the accrued interest and other expenses had seen the debt balloon to $256m.

A source who has been working with the Crafar family on a refinancing package said an Indian bank was close to making a decision on a deal which would repay the debt, allowing Crafar to regain control of the farms. The bank would then fund construction of a milk powder factory, which would process the milk the farms produced.

If it goes ahead, the new business would operate as New Zealand Dairy Foods. The Companies Office has already approved the use of the name and the company itself was expected to be registered in the next few days.

Crafar did not want to discuss details of the plan when the Star-Times caught up with him as he was digging post holes for a new fence last week.

He confirmed he was in discussions with several parties, but compared the negotiations to the post holes he was digging. "Nothing's set in concrete yet," he said.

Crafar said it was important that New Zealanders realised he had the right to take the farms out of receivership, provided he could raise the money.

"If New Zealanders knew that they would bloody well all cough up a few dollars for me and I'd do it, piece of piss," he said.

"If you want to save it from overseas ownership, you put the owners back in charge, you don't wank around with a whole lot of other people," he said, referring to a deal the receivers have entered into to sell the farms to Chinese company Shanghai Pengxin, and a rival proposal by a consortium led by businessman Sir Michael Fay to buy the farms.

The sale to Shanghai Pengxin has been approved by the government and this could make it difficult for Crafar to stitch together a refinancing package at the 11th hour.

If he managed to bring the farms out of receivership before the sale to Pengxin had settled, it was likely that the sale and purchase agreement would still be valid, and Crafar would be responsible for settling the deal.

If he failed to do so, Pengxin could then seek to enforce the contract or claim compensation through the courts, which, given the amounts of money involved, could leave Crafar with a Pyrrhic victory.

However, he is vowing to continue the fight.

"You don't stop playing until the final whistle," he said.

But the game now looks set to run into extra time, with the Fay consortium launching a fresh bid in the High Court last week to review the governments's approval of the Pengxin deal.

- © Fairfax NZ News
 
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/6831383/Crafar-banks-on-Indian-money

[AnFaolchudubh]

Well what else did you expect?

The Nats are determined to flog off ENZED to the highest bidder.

A Nats leopard NEVER, EVER changes its spots.

At least that other mob (Labour) got rid of the “flog off everything brigade” to ACT, and learnt the error of their ways.

Those scumbag Nats will NEVER change their ways....and Ruth Richardson wrote a column for the NZ Herald recently which PROVES that the Nats/ACT mob still think shafting ordinary NZers is normal behaviour, just so long as their mates are enriching themselves.

Well I for one thought you'd be happy TJ, I mean it would save some NZ/er (farmer) from becoming a rich poluting scumbag...