Five Million Voices

Should Parliament establish a new Crown agency called Invest New Zealand to promote increased overseas investment into New Zealand?

The bill establishes Invest New Zealand as a Crown agency tasked with promoting and facilitating overseas investment into New Zealand, setting out its board structure and governance. Its functions draw on activity previously sitting within New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

⚡ Taken under urgency

Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (first reading, second reading, third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.

MPs’ arguments for and against the bill

Why support it
  • Supporters argued the agency is part of a wider growth strategy intended to attract overseas capital to fund infrastructure projects such as roads, light rail, and prisons that New Zealand cannot finance from domestic capital alone.
  • Supporters said it would give New Zealanders with new ideas and intellectual property a way to raise capital and demonstrate the country is a good place to invest, restoring investor confidence.
  • Government members described the bill as largely structural, setting up the board and operating structure of an entity that already sits within NZTE, while a national interest test and ring-fencing of farmland, fishing quota and the family home remain in place.
Why oppose it
  • Opponents argued the regulatory impact statement offers no guarantee or empirical evidence the agency will work, and that it lacks clear performance measures or benchmarks against which to judge an entity costing tens of millions of dollars.
  • Opponents said the agency duplicates existing one-stop-shops and competes with bodies like NIFFCo, with insufficient consultation reflected in MFAT and Immigration New Zealand advice not being obtained or disclosed.
  • Opponents argued funding comes from disestablishing Callaghan Innovation, removing support for domestic innovation, and that the Government prioritises foreign investment while limiting domestic investment and local capital.

These are claims MPs made in Parliament’s debate — not verified facts.

Full bill summary & link to official bill page

The bill establishes Invest New Zealand as a Crown agency dedicated to promoting and facilitating overseas investment into New Zealand, and sets out its board structure and governance. Its job is to act as a single "front door" that markets New Zealand to international investors and helps them navigate the system, with a focus on capital for infrastructure, manufacturing, technology and research and development. Its functions draw on investment-promotion activity previously carried out within New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), which is refocused on exports. It mainly affects overseas investors, businesses seeking capital, and NZTE.

The agency was announced by the government as part of its economic-growth agenda, carving investment attraction out of NZTE into a stand-alone body. Supporters argue New Zealand's stock of foreign direct investment is low by international standards (around 38% of GDP, versus far higher levels in countries such as Ireland), and that a dedicated agency could lift growth, productivity and jobs. Opponents, including Labour, are wary of using foreign capital to "hock off" national infrastructure and essential services, and argue the focus should be on the cost of living.

See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.

Oppose (No) Support (Yes)

Invest New Zealand Bill · Third Reading, 24 Jun 2025
Parliament voted 68–49 — it passed.