Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
Member of Parliament for Northland
14 APRIL 2016
Global Tax Shell Game Hits Kiwi Farmers in the Pocket
The global tax money-go-round is hurting Kiwi arable farmers, says New Zealand First Leader and Member of Parliament for
Northland.
“Is it no coincidence that two of New Zealand’s largest importers of feed grains, Tegel and Glencore, are ultimately
registered in the Cayman Islands and Jersey respectively.
“This global tax avoidance shell game hollows out regional economies and robs Kiwi grain growers of a fair go in their
own country. Arable farmers are getting no support from a government that claims to be their mate on one hand, but then
gives multinational conglomerates tax breaks with the other.
“There seems to be a big tax disincentive from buying locally grown grains but a huge one in favour of importing grains
from ‘related partes.’ It is all down to how multinationals use complicated offshore related company transactions to
slash their local tax bill.
“The company trading as Tegel generated $562m in revenue but paid about $2m in tax and is audited by PwC, whose past
chairman is now supposedly looking into tax matters here. Meanwhile, Glencore NZ generated $441m in revenue but faced
income tax of just $3.2m.
“Last year, the Australian Tax Office took a very close look at Glencore and especially the billions in "losses" it made overseas. It was reported that Glencore had racked up
something like A$11bn worth of sales to related offshore parties offshore.
“Only a properly constructed Inquiry will do because how the government is going about it, is just like asking the
Mongrel Mob to investigate ways to control P,” says Mr Peters.
ENDS