James Cameron buys up land in NZ

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The Hollywood director behind box office smashes such as Avatar and Titanic has stirred up a political drama after announcing he is to move to New Zealand and buy more than 1,000 hectares of farm land.

News of James Cameron's purchase of two rural properties in the Wairarapa region in the lower North Island for a reported 20 million NZ dollars (16.66 million U.S. dollars) came less than a week after another controversial farm purchase by a Chinese company.

Land Information New Zealand documents showed the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) had approved in December the sales of two blocks to the Canadian director: one of 817 hectares and the other of 248 hectares.

Opposition politicians lined up Thursday to criticize the government for allowing the sale of large tracts of productive land to foreign buyers and to brand the OIO a "rubber stamp" for approvals.

The Green Party said the entry of wealthy foreign buyers into the New Zealand land market was driving up prices beyond the reach average New Zealanders and young farmers.

Green Party co-leader Russell Norman told TV3 that sales of New Zealand land to overseas buyers would see the loss of a key economic asset that should only be sold to permanent residents and New Zealand citizens.

"There's a bigger issue if you look at globally productive land, particularly land that can produce food and has access to water, which New Zealand obviously is well placed, that land is becoming increasingly valuable, as the price of food is only going to go up, " he told TV3.

"And so one of our key advantages as a country is that we have quite a lot of that land.

"If we let that land fall into foreign ownership not only will it drive up the price of land in New Zealand so it will be very difficult for kiwis to buy farms. But it also means we lose one of our key economic positions globally."

New Zealand First party leader Winston Peters said Cameron's purchase "robbed" two or three New Zealand families of the right to become farmers.

Peters asked how the sale to Cameron, who had no farming experience, could win OIO approval.

"Is there going to be an expansion of our export wealth? No," he told the New Zealand Herald.

"Is there going to be some new expertise brought to the farming community in this area? No."

The assurance given by Prime Minister John Key before the last election in November that New Zealanders wouldn't become "tenants in our own country" was happening, he said.

On Friday the government approved an application by a Chinese- owned company to buy 16 dairy farms that had been in receivership since October 2009, saying they would boost dairy product sales to China.

The government said it had accepted the recommendation of the OIO to grant consent to Milk New Zealand Holding Limited (Milk New Zealand), a subsidiary of Shanghai Pengxin Group Co. Limited, to acquire the 16 Crafar farms.

However, a rival consortium led by New Zealand businessman Sir Michael Fay has threatened to seek a judicial review of the decision, arguing the farms were a resource asset that should remain in New Zealand ownership.

Prime Minister John Key Thursday defended the sales, saying " blocking land sales will stop good people coming into this country " and Cameron should be made to feel welcome.

"People who come from overseas often bring with them a huge amount of capital, skills, and a passion for New Zealand," Key told TV3.

"That's why it's not a one way street when it comes to foreign investment."

New Zealand's Federated Farmers organization also welcomed Cameron's purchase Thursday.

"This successful application by Mr Cameron shows why Federated Farmers position on overseas investment, is that the rules we have must be applied without fear or favour," said Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills in a statement.

"The hope we have from skilled immigration is that it betters the whole community.

"I am encouraged that Mr Cameron's OIO application states that they are going to farm the land they've purchased."