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d. whether the new owner intends to reduce public access to the special land, relative to the access provided (if any) by the current owner;

e. whether Crown ownership of the land in question will, or is likely to, adversely affect the overseas person’s ability to carry out the overseas investment, for example by adversely affecting the business operations on the land; and

f. whether there is a more cost effective alternative to Crown ownership.

27. The following matters are already taken into account and are thus not relevant when deciding whether to acquire special land:

a. Values to do with the water covering the special land, such as fishing or swimming (it is the value of the special land that is at issue, not associated uses);

b. matters that relate to protections already offered under the Conservation Act 1987;

c. matters that relate to protections already offered under the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 or the Marine Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2010; and

d. the factors specified in section 17 of the Act and Regulation 28 of the Regulations (in order to determine whether an overseas investment in sensitive land will or is likely to benefit New Zealand, any part of it, or any group of New Zealanders).

28. There is nothing in the Act or Regulations which suggests that the relevant Ministers approach the question whether to purchase special land with any presumption as to the outcome – either for or against. In particular, there is no presumption that the relevant Ministers will accept an offer to purchase the special land if it is offered to the Crown for nil consideration.

29. The decision whether to purchase special land will be dependent on the individual facts in each case. Any decision will be based purely on consideration of the merits of only the special land in question. In particular, the decision to acquire special land, or to waive the Crown’s right to acquire special land, does not imply that the Crown already owns (or does not own) the special land in question, or, in the case of riverbed, whether a river is or is not navigable.

30. The regulator may consult with the Department of Conservation when preparing this advice to Ministers.

Other Matters Relating to Regulator’s Functions, Powers, or Duties

31. In providing advice to Ministers you, as the regulator, must:

a. perform your functions in a timely, consistent, and efficient manner;

b. seek sufficient information from applicants for you to be assured of the accuracy of any information, advice, recommendations, or assessments of any relevant benefits provided to Ministers;

c. verify information provided by applicants by seeking evidence or input from third parties at your discretion;

d. seek to recover your operating costs in relation to applications for consent from applicants through fees set by regulation; and

e. monitor compliance with any conditions of approval, consent, permission, or exemption granted under the legislation.

32. In providing advice on how an application for consent should be determined, including whether to grant consent, or whether the Crown should exercise its right to acquire special land, or any other relevant matter in this directive letter, you must provide recommendations to the relevant Minister or Ministers.

33. The regulator’s functions also include providing general information to applicants, compiling and keeping records, and making available statistics. This should include the dissemination of information on investment in New Zealand and publicly explaining the nature of our regulatory regime.

Revocation of Previous Letters

34. The Ministerial directive letters dated 31 August 2009* and 21 December 2009† are revoked on and from the date this Ministerial directive letter takes effect.

Date Letter Takes Effect

35. This Ministerial directive letter takes effect on and from 13 January 2011.

Yours sincerely

HON BILL ENGLISH, Minister of Finance.

Key to Annotation

1 The average farm size data should be made publicly available by the regulator, based on Statistics New Zealand data. The calculation of whether the investment in farm land is "large" will be made in net, rather than gross terms, to exclude any New Zealand portion of ownership or control. Where the relevant land is used for a number of purposes, the regulator should assess the size against the Statistics New Zealand farm category most relevant to the principal proposed use of the land, and take into account existing land holdings used for similar purposes.

*New Zealand Gazette, 3 September 2009, No. 131, page 3069

†New Zealand Gazette, 25 February 2010, No. 22, page 508

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Transport

Civil Aviation Act 1990

State Sector Act 1988

Notice of Variation of a Scheduled International Air Service Licence

Further to a notice in the New Zealand Gazette, 21 October 2010, No. 143, page 3582, and pursuant to section 87J(6) of the Civil Aviation Act 1990, sections 28, 29, 41 and 42 of the State Sector Act 1988, a delegation from the Minister of Transport dated the 27th day of November 2007 and a sub-delegation from the Secretary for Transport dated 6 December 2007, I give notice that having received an application from Air New Zealand Limited, the Minister of Transport has varied the Scheduled International Air Service Licence held by that airline to provide for:

• in respect of Japan, the right to operate B777-300 aircraft and make some minor capacity adjustments in relation to services to Nagoya;

• in respect of Niue, the right to operate one return service per week with any aircraft type rather than be restricted to the use of B737 aircraft only; and

• in respect of the United Kingdom, the removal of a potential restriction that no longer applies on the airline’s right to carry passengers between the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

The variation took effect from 12 December 2010.

Signed at Wellington this 14th day of December 2010.

JOHN MACILREE, Principal Adviser Air Services, Ministry of Transport.

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