Mana News editor Joe Trinder

With the new Yashili Chinese milk factory opening in Pokeno  this will permit Chinese firms to export New Zealand milk solids without New Zealand receiving the lion’s share of income from our primary industry.  The people’s republic of China has an immigration waiver as employees of Chinese firms so essentially Yashili can migrate in its own workforce. Unfortunately Neo-Liberals dismiss these assertions as xenophobia.

China has a Geo-political strategy with how it deals with competing countries, a National voting Southland farmer informed me that China’s strategy was to stock up on Milk solids to put into storage. Then Chinese markets ceased buying New Zealand milk solids. This threw the New Zealand dairy industry into a spin and milk solids prices dropped dramatically.

Destabilising the New Zealand dairy industry was part of this Geo-political strategy in how it operates in New Zealand. With falling stock options China invested heavily in our internal Dairy industry  for example Crafar farms so it could essentially cut New Zealand out of its own industry. Unfortunately the National government is complicit in this corporate colonisation receiving large campaign funds from Chinese firms.

Free trade deals can be lucrative but if the government of the day is Neo-Liberal and offering to sell off everything including the family silver a free trade deal will fail.

With the TPPA about to be ratified I fear the first victims of these Neo-Liberal trade deals will be farmers. If your under any illusions colonisation can be beneficial read the New Zealand settlements Act 1863 and compare it with the Treaty of Waitangi.