Labour lurches to the left

I seriously wonder if Phil Goff believes a word of what he is promising. How can the man who was an enthusiastic backers of the 1980s reforms, really sincerely believe his rhetoric about putting up barriers to investment. How can the zealous trade minister who signed trade and investments deals galore, now be advocating policies that undermine them?

The Herald reports:

Labour has made a dramatic turnaround on its foreign investment policy, and now says it will turn down big land sales to overseas buyers except in exceptional circumstances. …

“Labour will reverse the current approach to overseas sales of land,” he said at the party’s annual conference in Auckland.“Instead of the overwhelming majority of farm sales being approved, the overwhelming majority will be declined.”

So he sat in a Cabinet which sold 650,000 hectares without blinking one’s eyes, yet he is now worried about a relatively small 31,000 hectares sold since the election?

Guyon Espiner exposed some of the problems in Goff’s massive shift to the left on Q+A. Goff seemed unaware his policy would be in breach of signed agreements with Australia.