The great debate: foreign ownership of our rural land

The great debate refers to the on-going angst New Zealanders are feeling over foreign ownership of some of our most prized possessions – rural land. This contentious issue requires an honest view about what foreign ownership of our pastoral land really looks like, using reliable figures and removing emotion from the issues; is the only way to fairly assess the situation. This report aims to take a neutral stance on foreign land ownership. Current views and facts have been collated and discussed, finding common ground between some issues and blatant differences with others. The five main emotive issues surrounding foreign land ownership were easily recognised due to the very public debate had in New Zealand. The issues were: use and or loss of our intellectual property, financial loss, New Zealand jobs being taken by foreigners, loss of security around valuable resources and lastly increasing land prices out of reach of New Zealanders, especially young entry level farmers. Three case studies were used to gain insight into these issues; each was from a different ownership structure and held rural land here in New Zealand. The three structures were owner operator, owner who spends half their time here and the other half in their home country and lastly absentee owner.