WELLINGTON - New Zealand said on Tuesday it will widen government powers to block foreign investment on national security grounds and ramp up oversight of strategically important industries already subject to screening.
“The power would only be used to control those investments that pose a significant risk to our national security or public order,” Associate Minister of Finance David Parker said. Since taking office in 2017, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s center-left Labour-led government has sought to tighten rules on foreign investment, instituting a ban on most foreign overseas home buyers in 2018.