While Luxon was observing the flight of a North Korean trash balloon, his ministers were … well, but for Seymour, it’s hard to say
The dearth of media statements from the Beehive today prompted Point of Order’s ministerial monitors to engage in a quick check.
Yep. There are 30 potential sources of statements, speeches and what-have-you, when we count Chris Luxon’s executive team. Twenty are ministers, eight are ministers outside of cabinet, and two are Parliamentary under-secretaries.
It seems they are taking time out while the PM is in South Korea.
The only statement on the government’s official website when we checked at 2pm was a bit of braying from ACT leader David Seymour about how the government has made it faster and easier to invest in New Zealand. Or rather, thanks to him and his directive to apply a cattle prod to the approval process.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was being treated to the spectacle of a North Korean trash balloon, which flew above his motorcade just as he was about to depart the Demilitarised Zone at the border between South and North Korea.
Luxon had just finished an interview with 1News — in which he condemned North Korea for destabilising the region with its nuclear weapons programme and its supplying of weapons to Russia — when the trash balloon passed overhead.
He had met with the head of the United Nations Command in Korea US General Paul LaCamera and visited the border area, with North Korean troops not far away.
We are dependent on 1News for this information. Luxon has not issued a statement on the matter.
But let’s not rule out his considering further sanctions rather than a retaliatory dump of our rubbish on North Korea.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade tells us New Zealand’s United Nations Sanctions (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) Regulations 2017(external link) are complex and prohibit a wide range of dealings with North Korea, North Korean citizens, and North Korean companies.
MFAT strongly recommends that anyone thinking about doing business with North Koreans or North Korean companies obtain independent legal advice to avoid breaching the sanctions regulations.
New Zealanders considering travel to North Korea may also wish to seek legal advice. Advice is available on SafeTravel(external link).
A person breaching the sanctions regulations could be liable for up to 12 months imprisonment or a fine of up to $10,000. A company breaching the sanctions regulations could be liable for a fine of up to $100,000.
But let’s catch up with the…
The only statement on the government’s official website when we checked at 2pm was a bit of braying from ACT leader David Seymour about how the government has made it faster and easier to invest in New Zealand. Or rather, thanks to him and his directive to apply a cattle prod to the approval process.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was being treated to the spectacle of a North Korean trash balloon, which flew above his motorcade just as he was about to depart the Demilitarised Zone at the border between South and North Korea.
Luxon had just finished an interview with 1News — in which he condemned North Korea for destabilising the region with its nuclear weapons programme and its supplying of weapons to Russia — when the trash balloon passed overhead.
He had met with the head of the United Nations Command in Korea US General Paul LaCamera and visited the border area, with North Korean troops not far away.
We are dependent on 1News for this information. Luxon has not issued a statement on the matter.
But let’s not rule out his considering further sanctions rather than a retaliatory dump of our rubbish on North Korea.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade tells us New Zealand’s United Nations Sanctions (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) Regulations 2017(external link) are complex and prohibit a wide range of dealings with North Korea, North Korean citizens, and North Korean companies.
MFAT strongly recommends that anyone thinking about doing business with North Koreans or North Korean companies obtain independent legal advice to avoid breaching the sanctions regulations.
New Zealanders considering travel to North Korea may also wish to seek legal advice. Advice is available on SafeTravel(external link).
A person breaching the sanctions regulations could be liable for up to 12 months imprisonment or a fine of up to $10,000. A company breaching the sanctions regulations could be liable for a fine of up to $100,000.
But let’s catch up with the…
Latest from the Beehive
6 September 2024
Associate Minister of Finance David Seymour is encouraged by significant improvements to overseas investment decision timeframes, and the enhanced interest from investors as the Government continues to reform overseas investment.
And that – dear reader – is the best we can do today. Just one media statement that doesn’t tell us anything significant.
David Seymour wants us to know he is encouraged by “significant improvements” to overseas investment decision timeframes, and the enhanced interest from investors as the Government continues to reform overseas investment.
His grammar could do with some improvement, not necessarily significant. More a matter of sorting out tenses.
“There were about as many foreign direct investment applications in July and August as there was across the six months prior.”
Seymour said this is an encouraging start to the work being done to bring more investment to New Zealand and grow the economy.
He reminded us that on 6 June 2024 he issued a new ministerial directive letter to Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to make consent processing timeframes faster under the Overseas Investment Act.
The directive letter contains an expectation that 80 per cent of consent applications will be processed in half the statutory timeframe.
That means applicants can expect timeframes for most consent applications to be cut down to between 5 and 50 working days, depending on the application type.
“In order to have a strong growing economy New Zealand needs to be more welcoming to investment,” Seymour said.
“I recognised that long waiting times for applications was creating uncertainty and impacting the attractiveness of investing in New Zealand. This affected New Zealand businesses that rely on overseas investment for capital or for liquidity.
“Since delegating most decision-making to LINZ and directing officials to focus on realising the benefits of overseas investment, there has been a significant improvement in processing times.”
Every consent decision received after the directive letter came into effect has been decided in under half of the statutory timeframe.
Between 24 November 2021 and 14 April 2024, only 13 per cent of consent decisions were being made in half the statutory timeframe.
“There has been a large boost in foreign direct investment applications, totalling 16 across July and August, compared with 17 over the previous 6 months at an average of 2.8 per month,” Seymour said.
“This Government is introducing a principle that we welcome investment. In order for New Zealand to retain world class public services it needs to be the preferred destination for ideas, investment, talent. This is just one way we’re achieving this; we will also be rewriting the Overseas Investment Act.”
Seymour did acknowledge these are “early days”, but he is confident this positive trend will continue.
He was further pleased to see that decisions not covered by his directive, such as variations and exemptions, are also moving faster.
“Every variation application received since the letter has also been decided in half the timeframe. Before this only 40 per cent were.
“Feedback from investors has been overwhelmingly positive, and they have welcomed the changes to make the application process more efficient, while still giving the right level of scrutiny to high-risk transactions.
“LINZ still has the full statutory timeframe to process 20 per cent of consent applications, which will allow them to manage complex and higher-risk applications.”
Reduced barriers to investment from people and businesses meant greater prosperity for Kiwis, Seymour said.
“If we want world-leading businesses and public services, we need the money to pay for them. We’re making this happen.”
The directive letter is available on the LINZ website: https://www.linz.govt.nz/our-work/overseas-investment-regulation/legislation-ministers-and-delegated-powers/new-ministerial-directives
A link to summary of decisions is here https://www.linz.govt.nz/our-work/overseas-investment-regulation/decisions
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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