Billionaires, Millionaires - Why Invest in New Zealand ? As I found out, dont be fooled by those smiles Background material lawisanass-wingate.blogspot/2011/03/sir-peter-tapsell-asked-me-to-snapshot.html *The ABC Interview youtube/watch?v=VvoNNvLrJn0 Bring your money to New Zealand ? In the NZ Herald today arrived an article, the upshot of which is to make kiwis feel good and hopefully convince international investors to plow money into the NZ economy. Indications are that because of John Keys encouragement 2 wealthy billionaires have zoomed down to NZ and invested...in wineries..2 wineries and dam nice ones but still only 2. Sorry, I got my facts wrong. New Zealand was already the part-time home to investor billionaire hedge-fund manager Julian Robertson and former Levi Strauss president Tom Tusher. Yes I recall now as my mind flashes back to the images of those those investors getting craped on in kiwi media re their TOO Flash- Not indiginous friendly- Exploit sacred land- investments- you know the normal bashing people get in the kiwi tall poppy cutting machine. So where was I....., thats right..... John Key slept next to his computer screen, got into banking, got to fly to London to sack 50 staff, made $2m a year working for a bank, quit, gave a $200 bottle of Stonyridge Larose to a National Party member, decided to get into politics, went for a safe seat, got in and became PM. Ok. So...as PM he went to New York went on the David Letterman show and now according to the article below wants wealthy investors to invest in NZ. Now I was one of them. In 1986 I started buying property. Here is the first one- Rose Cottage as it was then. Now its called Kawaha Point Lodge..its for sale if youre keen. I think $3.8m from Harcourts NZ. In fact it appears that most of NZ is for sale....or under claim by Maoris and their government funded lawyers angry it was all stolen from them. I Come to Help Build New Zealand In 1989 I settled my beautiful Australian wife of 5 years into NZ after living in Sydney, our main home, and other homes in Vancouver BC, and Hawaii. But NZ was my choice from loyalty and love for my country...and I had been away for some years working hard earning my money in the great Australia, a country now populated by some 800,000 plus super earning capacity kiwis. But I wanted to reverse that trend and make my home of birth where I had my children and where I built business. I even had a bet with Sydney Stock Broker Rene Rivkin that the NZ Economy was going to out perform Australia. Rene flew over in his private jet parked it at Rotorua Airport and took a look around. His verdict- Bullshit ! Not a chance ! But I wasnt put off, I was keen on seeing the land I loved so dearly, succeed. And for a short time NZ was looking good. The first lot of investments I made were property related. But I threw money at a variety of businesses, film processing, car detailing, shed construction, confectionary machines and closed circuit television which I sold to Brierley Investments ( Harding Signals) in May 1991. By this stage we had our daughter Catherine born in the lovely and very friendly Rotorua hospital and had Nick on the way. On the 19th of July 1991 I turned 30 and friends from around the world flew in including a good mate from Canada Irv Sherman QC. While Irv was down I started looking at various property opportunities in the Tauranga area. The first was a hotel site owned by businessman Bob Owens. Now at this stage of writing this article, I note its 4.47am. Im sitting up in bed and my feet are starting to sweat, my back is sore and clammy and Im getting restless and I wonder why....... I will try not to swear and will try my best to remain calm. But let me cut and paste part of a submission I made to the NZ Ministry of Economic Development. med.govt.nz/upload/70165/37.PDF Extract from my Submission Fiduciary Protection Law My company, Arklow Investments went to borrow money from a Wellington merchant bank to buy Matakana Island. The bank went behind Arklow’s back and ended up with Matakana for free. Starting early 1993 Arklow sued Far Financial. Far Financial also faced threats by TKC a private company with a public Maori front. Some of the threats were covered by media. The public were informed Maori would burn the forest if they didn’t get ownership of the Matakana land. (The forest did catch fire) They directed setting up a road blockade preventing new owners Far Financial, Ernslaw One and ITT Rayonier from working (pages 60 and 71). They claimed in court the land was sacred, covered in graves and that a Waitangi claim was under review. They promised the government and the court if Far Financial could sell to them the sacred land the Waitangi claims would end. (They still went ahead) And they accepted the outcome of Arklow’s claim against Far would see them lose the assets they had obtained. They had got to this point by stealing Arklow information (via Craig and Co), with acts of violence, threats, intimidation and perjury. In March 1994 the High Court ordered the removal of my caveats and TKC got ownership of the Matakana land from the bank who stole it from me. TKC had no money, so they sold half the sacred land to American property developers and used the $4m profit to come after me. They employed New Zealand’s best lawyers, teams of private investigators, bugging experts and gangsters all for the purpose of giving me and my family grief. In 1997 we won a 4 week trial by Justice Temm and retrial application by Justice Fisher not long after Paul Temm died. It was clear the bank were guilty. They had robbed my deal and that was made very clear in the evidence and from the cross examination. Without warning we lost the appeals. The appellant judgments we claim are seriously wrong. In the end, the Crown, the government, failed completely in protecting Arklow from dishonest financial advisors operating in New Zealand. In my case a merchant bank approached my company wanting to loan us money for the Matakana deal. We showed them our financial models of how we would be ending up with 10,000 acres of land for free and profits enormous. Despite written and verbal promises of confidentiality the banking advisors did a deal and ended up with a Matakana Island deal that made them vast profits. We claimed Far Financial owed us a fiduciary duty but the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council sided with the bank and the Maori. As the head of Arklow Investments I had firmly believed by allowing Far Financial access to my business plans in a confidential environment Far was prohibited to enter the deal we talked about.I thought I had protection by the laws that control fiduciary relationships. My experience of New Zealand has been both wonderful and of horror. It appears to be a country run riot by too many conmen in flash offices. They speak well and love to show people their fancy brochures. They appear to be someone you can trust. But they are fiduciaries in disguise whose only interest is robbing us. In putting together the Matakana Island deal, I met and had dealings with Fay Richwhite,Stephen Lunn of Embankment Securities (owner of the Winebox papers), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winebox_Inquiry Neil Craig of Craig and Company and Far Financial. Fay Richwhite, they tried to steal the deal. But we had bugged a meeting and caught them on tape. craigsip/userfiles/file/Neil-Craig.pdf Then Craig and Company a well known and respected stock brokerage firm we trusted with confidential forestry valuations, then used that information to make a bid to buy Matakana behind our backs. (page 82)matakanaleadership.blogspot/2007/11/craig-and-company-steal-arklow.html When that failed, Mr Craig then passed that information to Maori partners who used the valuation reports to threaten my partner Kanematsu with Maori protest if Kanematsu did not cut them into the deal. matakanaleadership.blogspot/2007/11/craig-and-company-steal-arklow.html Te Kotukutuku became owned by the Iwi accountantand other leaders including the chairman of Ngai Te Rangi. The shareholders list reads like the ‘whos who’ of trusted Maori leadership. lawisanass-wingate.blogspot/2010/05/tekotukutuku-shareholders-note.html By taking the Matakana assets for themselves, that is a clear breach of the duty they owe the Ngai Te Rangi Maori community. Documents at matakanaleadership.blogspot/ I even had the manager of Tauranga Trust Bank, Clive Tippens, look at my proposed deal to buy Bob Owens Mt Maunganui beachfront hotel site with vendor finance to build two tower strata buildings and using presales to fund the deal. Within weeks Clive Tippens left the bank and went and did the same deal. This is what advisors get away with under New Zealand law. This photo you can see both Matakana Island and the 2 towers Clive Tippens had built at the base of Mt Maunganui. Back to my submission page 23- Do we really need to do something; is New Zealand really in trouble? Between the politicians and bankers who have controlled the law and the economy the result is we are now in a perilous state. In July 2009 former Reserve Bank head, Dr Don Brash said “It’s a sobering fact that New Zealand’s now more heavily indebted to foreigners than any but two other developed countries, and those two are Hungary and Iceland. Our net indebtedness – the extent to which our gross foreign liabilities exceed our gross foreign assets – is estimated to be some $170 billion, or well over 90% of GDP; roughly $40,000 for every man, woman and child in the country” And in trying to dig our way out of debt we are being forced to suffer an endless mountain of ineffective government that at times has the focus of a lab rat. This is a daily problem in both local councils and parliament. They are destroying the economic engines of our society. Their style of management, (compared to BHP) continues only to exist because they are being protected by an outdated system of protecting civil leaders. Crown immunity has fostered poor management at a time where we have needed a focused duty of care. That is why crown and judicial immunity laws need to be removed; these laws are our greatest danger. Every fiduciary must be held accountable........blah blah blah... You can go through to the link to see what else I have to say, but note the government have cut out my attachments. But What Would I know ? So...what the hell would a school drop out know about fiduciary law? NZ has Government Ministers, lots of lawyers, expert bankers....and as the article says below, a new Prime Minister who worked for Merrill Lynch.... so who are they again?... Merrill Lynch paid billions in bonuses before bailout telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/4316475/Merrill-Lynch-paid-billions-in-bonuses-before-bailout.html Merrill Lynch, the loss-making Wall Street bank, paid its staff billions of dollars in bonuses even as it prepared to be taken over by the US government-backed Bank of America. During 2008 Merrill Lynch sustained huge losses, forcing its sale to Bank of America Photo: AFP Merrills move took as much as $4 billion out of the bank days before it became part of Bank of America, which last week said it would get $20 billion from the US Treasury. Merrill paid out an estimated $3 billion to $4 billion in bonuses in December. In previous years, the bank is said to have paid annual bonuses in January or February. The total compensation bill at Merrill last year is said to have been around $15 billion, a sum reported to be only 6 per cent lower than in 2007. Of that, between $3 billion and $4 billion is said to have been handed out in bonuses in late December, after the Bank of America takeover had been confirmed. The merger took effect on January 1. During 2008, Merrill sustained huge losses, forcing its sale to Bank of America. In the last three months of 2008 alone, Merrill lost $21.5 billion. So back to the original question...why would billionaires - money people invest in New Zealand ? The article in todays paper. NZ Herald When he was Merrill Lynchs global head of foreign exchange in London in 1998, the ever-cheerful John Key was nicknamed the smiling assassin after he fired some 50 members of his team. Today, as Prime Minister of New Zealand, population 4.4 million, hes using his trademark grin to woo billionaire immigrants, foreign investors and high-end tourists to one of the planets most remote developed countries, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its October issue. Key, 49, even took time out from a session of the United Nations General Assembly last year to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman to talk up New Zealand. He encouraged visitors to take a convenient 20-hour, one- or two-stop flight from New York. Its like England without the attitude, he wisecracked, adding: Visit in the next 30 days and I will pick you up at the airport. Key was joking with Letterman, yet his underlying message was serious. Since he took office in November 2008, the Prime Minister has cut income and corporate taxes, offered scholarships for business executives and taken personal control of the countrys tourism ministry to boost a stuttering $125 billion economy. New Zealand is struggling to rebound from its worst recession in 30 years. Living standards as measured by per capita gross domestic product are about 15 per cent lower than the average for other OECD countries, according to 2009 estimates based on purchasing-power parity. One million New Zealanders, including a quarter of university graduates, have moved to work overseas - 260,000 in the past 10 years. Unemployment rose in the second quarter to 6.8 per cent from 6 per cent in the first. Key says New Zealand needs to lift per capita income by 35 per cent to match that of Australia. In the meantime, hes trying to replace departing compatriots with wealthy foreigners. Attracting high-net-worth individuals is critical in terms of the investments they make and the opportunities they provide for others. As for his currency background, it comes in most handy in political debates. Parliamentary question time is very much like being on a trading floor, he says. You live off your wits, and you feed off the environment. Key, who leads the centre-right National Party, is pushing pro-business policies. He has trimmed the top income tax rate to 33 per cent from 38 per cent compared with 45 per cent for Australia. Next year, the corporate tax rate will fall to 28 per cent, two percentage points below Australias, from 30 per cent. Hes trying to win free-trade agreements with India and Russia. He has cut bureaucracy so that Auckland will be run by one local authority instead of eight. And on August 9, he announced a scholarship under which New Zealand executives can get grants of as much as $110,000 to study at top international business schools and come back to work in the country. Look at what hes done; its quite remarkable, says Jonathan Ling, chief executive officer of Fletcher Building, the countrys biggest publicly traded company, who often recruits executives from the New Zealand diaspora. Since Key took office Fletcher shares have gained 30 per cent to $7.40 on August 23. Key isnt starting from scratch in luring affluent visitors. New Zealand has long been home to such investors as billionaire hedge-fund manager Julian Robertson and former Levi Strauss president Tom Tusher. Robertson developed two of the nations most spectacular golf resorts, Kauri Cliffs and The Farm at Cape Kidnappers. In 2002, he bought two wineries, including Dry River, which produces what Bloomberg Markets wine and spirits columnist Elin McCoy describes as one of the New Worlds great pinot noirs. Tusher, 69, owns Blanket Bay, a $750 to $2500-a-night hideaway near Queenstown, and the Amisfield winery. Neither man will disclose the total value of his investments. New Zealand is the most beautiful place on Earth, says Robertson, 78, who oversees US$23 billion at New York-based Tiger Management LLC and spends three months a year in the country. I am a fan of the Prime Minister, says Robertson, who is due to open his third New Zealand resort, Matakauri Lodge, this Friday. Now they have a progressive conservative premier, I think it will be much better for them. Key ousted the Labour Partys Helen Clark, who had led the country for nine years. The Prime Ministers job has been complicated - even for a veteran currency trader - by a New Zealand dollar that has yo-yoed between US39 cents and US82 cents in the past decade. Hostage to the so-called carry trade, the currency rises when foreign investors pour in money to take advantage of higher-interest-bearing assetsand falls when they pull money out. Exports and inbound tourism, which make up almost 40 per cent of New Zealands GDP, become more expensive with a strong kiwi dollar. That hurts a country thats the biggest global exporter of dairy products and lamb and whose visitors account for 20 per cent of foreign-exchange earnings. New Zealand suffers, although less so, when the kiwi dollar hits lows, because imports cost more. Key says theres not much he can do to prevent the kiwis wild swings, even with his 20 years of foreign-exchange experience. What he can do is try to negotiate more free-trade agreements to compensate for barriers and subsidies that restrict access for meat and dairy products in New Zealands biggest markets. OECD figures in July showed that in New Zealand, a free-trading nation, 1 per cent of farmers incomes comes from subsidies, compared with 61 per cent in Norway, 23 per cent in the European Union and 9 per cent in the US. We would be the most vulnerable nation in the world to the vagaries of global markets, says Andrew Ferrier, chief executive officer of Fonterra. A rebounding global economy is already helping Keys prospects. Sales of milk, butter and lamb are increasing as the world emerges from its financial crisis. New Zealands economy is poised to grow 3 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, compared with a 1.6 per cent contraction in 2009. On Monday Fonterra reported that its dairy exports rose to a record 2.1 million metric tonnes in the year ended July 31, buoyed by demand from China and other parts of Asia. The Prime Minister is getting the benefit of the doubt from some rivals because of his personality and inspirational life story, says Mike Moore, a former Labour Party Prime Minister and one-time director-general of the World Trade Organisation. We in the Labour Party have a serious problem with John Key, says Moore, who this month became New Zealands ambassador to the US. Hes a very hard man to hate. Key grew up with adversity. His late mother, Ruth Lazar, an Austrian Jew, fled to Britain in 1938. In 1948, she married George Key, an Englishman. The couple emigrated to New Zealand in the 1950s. His father died when Key was 6. He and his two siblings and Ruth lived in a state house in Christchurch, where the Keys made their way among other struggling families. He never lacked confidence. From very early on, I wanted two things, Key says. I wanted to go into business and become financially independent. Secondly, I wanted to go into politics. When I was very young, I wanted to be Prime Minister. Keys path to riches and political power began in 1985 - the year when New Zealand floated the kiwi, which had been pegged to a basket of currencies. He decided he could make his fortune trading the suddenly fluctuating New Zealand dollar. He joined Bankers Trust in Auckland in 1988, so eager to succeed that he and his wife, Bronagh, slept in the green glow of a financial terminal beside their bed. In 1995, Merrill Lynch hired him as a managing director of Asian foreign exchange in Singapore. Three months into the job, then-boss Steve Bellotti asked what Key thought of Merrills foreign-exchange business. I think it sucks, Key said. Key told Bellotti that Merrill could be a bigger player in currencies. Bellotti, who confirms the story, shared that view. They had the clients and the cross-border flow in equities, fixed interest and commodities, but they were not capturing the foreign-exchange part, Bellotti says. Bellotti offered Key the job of global head of foreign exchange in London with the proviso that if he didnt perform hed be fired in a year. If I dont make it in 11 months, Ill quit, Key replied. Instead, it was Key who ended up sacking other people. Bellotti says Key expanded the business as theyd planned. Then came the 1997 Asian financial crisis and 1998 Russian debt default. Key was ordered to cut his 300-strong team by 50 or 60, Bellotti recalls. It was a very difficult environment, Key says. But for the survival of the business, we did what was necessary. Bellotti, now managing director for global markets at Australia New Zealand Banking Group in Sydney, says Key succeeded as a currency trader without taking big risks. He was not the king of volatility, Bellotti says. He was not the superstar outstanding athlete. He was consistent sometimes to the point of being boring. He was also a great team builder. Key also became wealthy. Newspapers have reported that he earned about US$2 million a year in London and his fortune is now US$40 million. Hell say only: It was a substantial amount of money - enough to have choices. By then a father of two, Key chose to quit Merrill and take a shot at becoming Prime Minister. He sought to improve his chances of successfully entering politics with a classy gift - and humour - to win over a local party official who had invited him to a beach barbecue. Turning up with a $200 bottle of Stonyridge Larose, one of the countrys best red wines, he recommended that his host not serve it with the sausages. It was good wine, Key says, I hope he still has it in his cellars. Keys political debut wasnt easy even with such schmoozing. He was selected as a National Party candidate only after a bruising intraparty contest. He faced New Zealand voters for the first time during the 2002 general election. National suffered its worst defeat ever, winning 27 seats in the 120- member Parliament. Key, whod been chosen for one of the safest seats, escaped the rout. If I hadnt challenged in such a strong seat, I would never have made it, he says. With so few National members in Parliament, he was promoted to finance spokesman in 2004. National lost the 2005 election and his colleagues chose him to be Opposition Leader in 2006. Key has suffered reverses during his two years in office - and digs at his background. It is all very well being an international money shuffler, but I thought they were part of the problem, not the solution, Labour Party Opposition Leader Phil Goff says. Keys attempts to raise living standards closer to Australias are having the opposite effect, he says, noting that Australias economy has been growing faster than New Zealands and its jobless rate - 5.3 per cent in July - is lower. You have to deliver, not just be a smiling face, Goff says. Key backed down in July on a plan to open conservation areas to mining after protesters said the move would jeopardise tourists and food shoppers image of a green New Zealand. So far, most voters arent holding mistakes against Key. If an election had been held in early August, his National Party would have been re-elected with 54.5 per cent of the vote, a poll conducted for TV3 found. The poll that really counts will come when Keys three-year term ends in November 2011 and he seeks re-election. If the world keeps buying New Zealand farm products and if former colleagues on forex desks dont make the countrys currency too volatile, Key should be smiling for another three years. - BLOOMBERG Im back.... with an article published about previous attempts to lure investors to NZ... NZ Herald worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2010/07/new-zealand-corruption-crime-and.html A scheme aimed at attracting wealthy migrants to invest in businesses and create jobs in New Zealand has resulted in only a single approval to date, despite widespread interest before its launch last year. The Entrepreneur Plus immigration category, introduced last November, offered entrepreneur migrants who create at least three full-time jobs and invest $500,000 conditional residency upon approval. Although 12,000 registered their interest in the scheme through Immigration New Zealands website, only one applicant has been issued a conditional residence permit under the scheme - according to information released by the Department of Labour under the Official Information Act. So what can you expect depositing your money in New Zealand? NZ Investment Failures cost 188,652 people $6,231,000,000 interest.co.nz/deepfreeze.asp More very sad reading on what is wrong with NZ worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2009/12/nz-government-has-learnt-nothing.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2010/01/brian-gaynor-fear-and-greed.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2010/03/brian-gaynor-on-kiwi-ponzi.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2010/04/nz-financial-failure-caused-by-lack-of.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2010/04/nz-slice-of-pgg-wrightson-may-be-sold.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2009/06/new-zealands-economy.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2009/04/new-zealands-addiction-to-debt.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2009/11/new-zealand-drowning-in-debt.html worldeconomy-wingate.blogspot/2010/08/paul-holmes-nz-economic-horror-economy.html By now if that lot didnt make you puke, let me get you into murder cover-ups, bribes to political parties in exchange for private parties buying state owned assets which are now screwing the average kiwi out of every spare cent they have, causing much restlessness. And yes by now its 6.09am my feet are really sweating and my anger at how my beautiful country of New Zealand has been ruined by idiots in power is almost at a point of explosion. But I will add a few more things to concider before I make a cup of tea in my now rented house where I have retreated to back here in Australia after being fleeced by New Zealand conmen connected to the people in power in the NZ government. As for John Key and his government protecting any investors money should you be silly enough like me to take a chance. Botton line- he will do nothing. He has done nothing whatsoever for me and nothing for the 180,000 mums and dads who have lost $6.2b in deposits. Sadly I report, to you, that my country is a failure. Its leadership nice to have a cup of tea and a cookie with, lots of smiles and pats on the back to make you welcome but as I found out and I warn others, dont be fooled by those smiles. idiotsinpower.blogspot/2010/08/john-key-so-my-mates-and-i-want-your.html idiotsinpower.blogspot/2007/09/politicians-and-lawyers.html How NZ has a club of powerful people who do as they please and use the power to hide failure, corruption and even murder lawisanass-wingate.blogspot/2010/08/matakana-nz-supreme-justice-club-top-qc.html How the Waitangi claims will destroy your investments lawisanass-wingate.blogspot/2010/08/matakana-litigation-can-i-make-claim-of.html How complaints to the NZ Government get ignored voxy.co.nz/politics/separation-power-fiction/557/8630 The sort of Idiots investors will meet in the NZ Government idiotsinpower.blogspot/2010/02/brendan-mulholland-kiwi-village-idiot.html How I was robbed of $3.43b courtsofappeal.blogspot/ The Matakana Island Development matakanadevelopment.blogspot/ So did NZ gain anything from my investments and business vision ? Well, a few dozen lawyers gained $11m from the Matakana litigation. Some conmen who robbed me with the governments assistance made $100m+ In Tokyo in 1992 I introduced business icon Sir Ron Trotter to Hideo Suzuki the chairman of Japanese mega giant Kanematsu which has an annual turnover bigger than many countries. And over the years I have brought a steady list of friends, hosted them and encouraged them to do projects, network contacts get projects all for supporting the export earning sector for New Zealand. Introduced kiwi businessman Gary Lane to my mate super yacht designer Donald Starkeys business and I guess the value of builds done at Alloy would well exceed $200m. alloyyachts.co.nz/our+fleet.html Then there is actor Christopher Atkins who did a project with Mickey Rooney in Auckland. US born Asian based economist strategist extrordinaire George Lipp. And designer of the worlds greatests buildings, Burj Dubai Tower,Petronas Towers David Klages- rnldesign/images/press/BurjDubai.pdf . Canadian legal rights advocate Irv Sherman QC. Bart Collins President of Great White Shark- shark/index.php Saudi/ Syrian billionaire Isam Kabbani- ikk-group/ etc, etc etc But then there was a school boy I helped by the name of Scott Dixon. My family backed him with money and advice and a company I called Scott Dixon Motor Sport which funded Scott with $1m so he could climb the ranks of international motorsport in racing. scottdixon/ And he has done well going on the win the Indy 500 along with 2 world championships, countless world records and is NZs highest earning sports star ever. I even jacked up for Scott to spend a weeked with Greg Norman at Gregs home in Jupiter Florida. And Scotts news is great news for New Zealand as the name of our country is beamed to hundreds of millions of people all over the world each year. However, once we got Scott into the big league the only message we got was his lawyers telling us to stuff our 50/50 deal up our arses- what were his lawyers words?....- thats right...Scott wants to get out of the oppressive contract and if he doesnt he will quit racing Our other house Malulabah, 15-17 Grand Vue Road Kawaha Point Rotorua My beautiful family robbed, bashed, beaten, threatened, intimidated by New Zealand thugs in power all covered up. And Prime Ministers Helen Clark or John Key, do they care....not a chance. So you want to try investing in New Zealand ? New Zealand Herald Article on me called Kiwi In Australia If you have seen the film Once Were Warriors that was how Christopher Wingate grew up. The difference was his parents were white and the house a bit more flash. But all the other dynamics existed in Rotorua in the 1960s. He knew from a young age he wanted a different life and so instead of spending his days hanging around the Western Heights shops he spent it in the bush or wondering around some of the tourist businesses talking with the owners. Each Friday night we would have fish and chips- one piece of fish each. The others would hog their piece of fish but I would focus on the chips knowing my fish would be there long after they had scoffed their fish. I guess then I knew I was different Married 24 years with 4 kids, Chris was a self made millionaire by the age of 25. He has lived in Australia, New Zealand, Vancouver and Hawaii. In 1997 he funded Auckland school kid Scott Dixon to race Formula Holden then the following year he set up Scott Dixon Motorsport to fund Scotts racing career. In 2003 Dixon won the Indy Racing world title in his first attempt and then in 2008 won the Indy 500 and the Indy World Title. No stranger to adventure himself, in 1999 Chris shipped a 4wheel drive to India and drove to London with Sir Peter Tapsell and Prof. Frank Brosnahan via India,Pakistan, Iran, Syria Jordon, Lebanon,Turkey etc. He is currently filming a movie called GOVERNMENT, a 9/11 type film about what he calls idiots in power. What Drives Chris? HOME TOWN Rotorua (now lives in Australia) HOBBIES Reading, writing, painting, sculpture, poetry, cooking, studying humans, bush walks, humanities, law, nano technology, CERN, design, playing the piano, didgeridoo LIFE GOAL To make politicians and judges accountable by getting the public to help remove Crown and Judicial Immunity. Our political systems of managing our countries are a failure. We really need to separate the nice smiling people from the constructive ones. Our politicians and judges want mana and prestige which they prioritise over the more important responsibility of being the most important fiduciaries in the world. If any other fiduciary fails they only harm a few. If our politicians and judges fail they can and unfortunately do ruin the entire nation. My Favourite Time of the day is...(and why) Being woken by our pet birds at 5am. Here in Australia when you go outside the sound of the forest all around us is just coming alive like an orchestra. I really enjoy... My family and seeing others succeed in life. List a few of your recent accomplishments that you are proud of: Picking my sorry self up out of New Zealand after losing the Matakana litigation, coming back to Australia to start again from scratch. But my greatest success has been seeing my children being successful. Did you celebrate them? How? Everyday we talk about their objectives and goals. I tell them I am proud of them and encourage them to keep moving forward I am busy at the moment doing: We are currently filming a movie called GOVERNMENT, a 9/11 type film about idiots in power. My big hairy audacious goal this year is to: Lose weight and get really fit, and be a better father and husband. I knew I was onto something when: I realised intention was the prerequisite of doing. My secret for getting things done is to: Prioritise things. Draft a list of what I need to do. I recall the words of a Tibetan Monk who escaped the invading Chinese army by walking over the snow and ice covered mountains. When asked how he did it, he said One step at a time My darkest hour was when: I lost the Matakana Island litigation at the Privy Council. I had won the 4 week trial in the NZ High Court - the defendants were clearly guilty and all the documents and cross examination proved that. Then the Court of Appeal changed the facts and ignored others, I was shocked democracy could be so negligent or corrupt. The Privy Council were supposed to be the beacon of intelligence so when they rejected my appeal I just went blank. * EDITORS NOTE: The story behind the Matakana Island litigation is covered in this Scoop article. Chris Wingate has also set up a website about the venture. I came through it by: On the flight back sitting in first class talking with a Chinese businessman from Singapore we started talking about what we did. I explained I had just lost a court case and began talking about it all . I started showing him some photographs of Matakana Island from my briefcase and among those photos were pictures of my family and our home, While looking at them I realised my family were about to lose their home as we had put everything into the litigation. Suddenly I found myself crying. The Singaporean man put his hand over to mine and said Maybe I dont know how bad things are for you but I want to consider this, imagine if you were on this flight for a different reason, imagine if one of your family had been killed and you were flying back to New Zealand for that reason, you would be here right now praying to god he take everything you own in exchange for that family member to be alive again. Money is not as important as family that is your priority and that is your wealth and reward. I got off the plane with a smile and my family needed that. What would do if you were not ... If I didnt do what I did I would love to be a postman. What a lovely calm life that would be. What do you do to cope with stress? As I have got older I cope better. Often I think of planet earth flying past in space and when I think of it from out there I remember whatever my problems are they really dont matter in the big picture. How many hours do you work each week? I guess I seldom stop if you consider thinking through things as work. The issues I am working on are huge. Everyone is caught up with the current system of political management but that system is failing and they know it. So where my mind is most hours of the day is reforming political management. By that I mean getting better performance from those who say to society trust us with managing your society The human apathy, technical, logistical and media obstacles in that are enormous and require endless thinking in order to hatch a plan to win. And I dont plan on losing the world cant afford that. What do you do when things arent going your way? Never give up. But I dont keep banging my head against the wall I stand back from it and think about all the options. But the key is never, never give up the objective. And often the wall is an illusionary obstacle. In other words the things that you think are in the way are not really whats stopping you. And perhaps most important- when someone says no, dont worry about that, perhaps they just dont yet understand. What is the most important piece of advice youd give to people who are struggling to create a positive change in their lives? You should never struggle to make a positive change because being alive is the most positive thing and with that whatever you think is getting you down is really not important in the scheme of things. People I come across who are in a rut are nearly always holding onto the rut like a blanket. What is the hardest lesson youve had to learn in life? Realising titles create the illusion ability exists. Learning to struggle with intelligent people in government power who have no common sense. Experiencing government incompetence among the drowning flood of silence. What separates successful people from unsuccessful people? Successful people do lots of things and unsuccessful dont do much at all. But success is in the heart not in the wallet. I know plenty of people with money but I only know a few of them with happiness. A friend of mine who taught swimming to the rich in Beverly Hills once said The only happy people in Beverly Hills were the staff Do you have any daily rituals that help you keep focused and in the right mental state to succeed? Go go go !!! Life is short. And remember the problem with doing nothing is you dont know when you are finished. So get off your bum and do something. Do you have any school/study qualifications? Dropped out at 15 with no educational qualifications but an attitude of I can do anything and I knew I wanted to see the world and be a success at whatever I did. What are the three most important personal qualities youve had to develop to become a CEO? I am still learning I dont think you ever stop that. But if I had my time over again the rules from the start would be - never lie, never steal, never do anything that wounds your soul, respect others, work hard and never give up. What are the three most important skills that you would advise up and coming youngsters to develop? Never do anything wrong that you cant come back from. Pay your bills. Talk about your objectives and explain how you require relationships in order to meet those objectives. In doing that everyone knows where you want to go and what part they can play in it. But for those who have tried and have failed, remember to rebuild to last we must be aware why we failed. Who inspires you the most and why? Firstly my wife. The greatest human I have ever known. If the world was seeded from her this would be a wonderful planet with wonderful people. There would be no wars and no problems. But apart from her, Sir Peter Tapsell. He was a raised without shoes in a poor family. But his hard work and sense of drive led him to the top of sport, medicine and politics. Then in retirement he has found total happiness in saddling up his horse at 5am and riding into the hills to fix a fence, move livestock around. Peter lives life by looking forward, he never looks back. He is perhaps New Zealands greatest son. I love the man dearly. Do you have a formal goal setting process? First goal is being able to see it and keeping your eye on it. When I was 18 Reg Ansett founder of Ansett airlines asked me if I could shoot a target at 50 yards on a barn door. When I said yes he then asked if I though I could beat the worlds best shooter to which I said no. He then said if you put a blindfold over the champion shooters eyes you could beat him. The lesson was it does not matter how much talent you have, if you cant see the target anyone can beat you. So if you want to hit a target you have to take off the blind folds in order to see the target. I have often thought about that. The blindfolds come in many forms with comments like you cant do that, youre too young, too old, its too expensive, too hard, too far. Just focus on the target and dont let people put blindfolds on you. Have you ever been scared to .........? What did you do about it? I am not scared of anything which scares the hell out of those who travel with me. When my son was 8 we were screaming along on one hull out of the water on Lake Rotorua in our catamaran one cold windy winters day. He was crying scared we would tip over and he would drown. I said to him if he feared dying and was hanging on doing nothing about it then would it not be better for him to try managing the event rather than being a passenger. He got the message and soon was helping me control the boat. That was one of his most important life lessons. What comes first...success or confidence? Confidence, you must have confidence about your plan. And as soon as you have confidence you have become more successful than those with money and no confidence. I recall an old Italian guy who owned a timber yard in Sydney talking about a young lad working for him who had just won lotto. He said Everyone is saying hes rich. But hes not rich his heart, his soul is poor, he will never be rich. The Parting Shot: When I feel frustrated that things are not coming together as I wish, I proceed to... Again I look at the objective I am chasing and review the bridges and steps I am making to get me there. If you plant seeds, its only one good seed that may count. But perhaps the most important thing I recall is something I wrote at the Privy Council in London. The cost of failure is experience, but the cost for not trying is your soul blogs.nzherald.co.nz/blog/inspired-people/2008/9/26/chris-wingate-kiwi-australia/?c_id=1501798 . scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0805/S00032.htm Businessman To Take $17Bn Property Back To Court Friday, 2 May 2008, 10:57 am Press Release: LawFuel Businessman To Take $17 Billion Waterfront Property Case Back to Court LawFuel - The Law Jobs and Legal NewsWire It may be unusual, but businessman Christopher Wingate has never been one to do things by halves. The “unusual” is something that comes easy to him and it made him a millionaire by age 25. Mr Wingate is now advertising for “lawyers with stamina” to take a case worth $3.5 billion profits back to court. And $3.5b is a conservative number Mr Wingate refers people to look at matakanadevelopment.blogspot/ In this proposal Mr Wingate is offering lawyers a huge share in Matakana’s waterfront property should they take this case on and win the land back. Wingate’s company, Arklow Investments proposed a $17 billion development of Matakana Island. He commissioned international reports between 1991 and 1998 that would see an international airport, 20,000 houses, six world-class golf courses, holiday parks, a university, marine science centre and other major features built on Matakana Island. The project is New Zealand’s greatest, Wingate said. A successful self made businessman at the young age of 25, Wingate’s career saw him living between Hawaii, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He’s been in business for 30 years and says he has spent $5.5 million on lawyers, litigating the Matakana Island “theft.” In Arklow vs. MacLean and Others [1999] UKPC 51, the Privy Council London dismissed an appeal from the Court of Appeal of New Zealand which found Wellington merchant bank FAR Financial owed no fiduciary duty to Arklow Investments. But Mr Wingate says they were wrong and he can prove it. “I went to a Wellington merchant bank Far Financial to borrow $4-5m. They asked us to bring the business to them so we gave the 3 FAR directors the blue print of our deal which was how to get 10,000 acres for free. We negotiated for Kanematsu Japan to buy the 17-34 year forest cutting rights for $15.75m. The price I had negotiated to buy Matakana land and forests was $20m, hence going to Wellington Merchant Bank Far Financial to borrow the shortfall. Our plan was to repay the $5m, by selling off the 1-16 year forest. So by doing that we would end up with the land for free. After showing FAR Financial our deal, instead of offering us the money we needed, FAR asked us for $5000 to go find the money. The court evidence showed that within days, FAR called USA forest company ITT Rayonier and offered them the 17-34 year forest for $15.6m. In the end, FAR Financial ended up with the ownership control of the 10,000 acres, for free plus a few million. Arklow then took FAR to court claiming breach of fiduciary duty, misuse of confidential information and breach of confidentiality. But before the matter got to trial, FAR did a deal to sell the 10,000 acres of Matakana land to a group of Maori who claimed the land was sacred. What surprised me was how the courts bent over backwards to accommodate their every whim. My caveats were lifted the deal went through and the Maoris’ then immediately sold half the sacred land to USA company Port Blakely keeping 5000 acres plus $5m which they then used to fight Arklow in its case against FAR. It was and is a scandal that must be corrected. If not then litigation is a waste of time and the courts should close in all civil trials because they have shown in Arklow they have no interest in accuracy. We won the four week trial and retrial and then got totally screwed by the Appeal Courts who changed the facts so as to give the land to Maori, who claimed it was sacred. Yet two years later announced plans to build canal housing right over the graves they had previously pointed out when seeking the courts sympathy. But so much for sacred, last year the Maori group sold the remaining 5000 acres to property developers for $75 million and the tribe got nothing everything went to the Maori leaders and their chartered accountant.” Mr Wingate’s dissatisfaction with the judicial and political systems has led him to make a film called Government which is along the lines of Michael Moore’s documentaries on corruption and “idiots in power.” “The public are witnessing the growing trends of politicians and the judiciary bowing to the demands of big business and other hidden agenda. Networking power appears to be shifting influence and authority into the hands of some legal and business corporations often in a corrupt way,” Wingate says. When asked to prove the Court of Appeal and Privy Council were wrong, he said, “If Arklow entrusts FAR with any ability to control the financial well being of Arklow, FAR Financial has become bound in a relationship of trust. And so the rules are; 1- That FAR will not in any way commit any act which may conflict with the interests of Arklow who is seeking a $3.43 billion dollar profit out of the plans it has trusted FAR to receive; or 2- That FAR will use the new position of control, if it is used, only to serve the interests of Arklow. These are the rules to stop those with any entrusted conferred control over the financial well-being of those like Arklow, who are expecting their care will proceed without falling victim caused by a conflict of interest. If you agree that is the correct position of equitable law, then you would know the Court of Appeal and Privy Council were incorrect in their decision. That has always been the position of the law, it’s just that no one has ever written this in a single rule like I have.” Mr Wingate said, “The Court’s changed many key facts, an example” In the High Court 1994 Justice Greig page 17 said, “At no relevant time would Arklow-Wingate have been able to purchase and complete the transaction” Then in the High Court 1997 Justice Temm page 5 said – “By February Kanematsu were prepared to pay $15.75m” But then Court of Appeal Justice Gault 1998 page 35 said– “At no time was Kanematsu prepared to pay $15.75m for the 17-34 year forest” Then in the Privy Council 1999, Justice Henry page 1 said – “The relevant facts are fully set out in the majority judgment of Richardson P., Gault and Keith JJ. delivered by Gault J., and need not be repeated in detail “ Mr Wingate said it’s a scandal what the judges said when we look at the evidence. For example the general manager of Kanematsu Steve Wilson in the High Court trial said and produced the actual board approved deal agreeing to pay $15.75m. The other evidence was from the CEO of Peter Spencer’s investment group, which said they were ready to provide Arklow with whatever they needed to complete the deal. So when asked why didn’t Arklow do the deal with Spencer? “Because FAR beat us to it the deal” So how did the Maoris end up in the deal Wingate suggests people read matakanaleadership.blogspot/ When asked how can the owners of the land be liable? Mr Wingate said, “All parties have dealt in these assets knowing of Arklow’s claim.” This will be interesting. ENDS Footnote: So what has become of Matakana Island? The Maori leadership have sold the sacred land and pocketed the money. 2 weeks ago some Matakana Island young people set up a web site attacking me. After replying to their questions and concerns they changed the name of the Facebook site to Expose Shaw N Ingham. Everyday I get emails and messages from kiws and local Maori disgusted this scam has occurred without anything in the news. As I have pointed out New Zealand media is either lazy or under control as to what they write. Very very sad indeed. 5 September 2010 In the last week the NZ government/ taxpayers have just bailed out another finance company for $1.6 billion. This link is an interveiw of Alan Bollard the Governor of the Reserve Bank. It confirms exactly what I have been saying about idiots in power. tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/q-interview-reserve-bank-governor-alan-bollard-19-05-video-3760832 Iwi Corruption $75m in the leaders pockets- lawisanass-wingate.blogspot/2010/12/nz-waitangi-claims-for-tauranga-have.html Two hour radio interview on fraud, murder, corruption to the top in NZ thevinnyeastwoodshow/uploads/1/3/1/2/1312301/__vinny_eastwood_show_chris_wingate_feb_8.mp3 lawisanass-wingate.blogspot/2011/02/saving-new-zealand-objective-here-is.html *Two hour interview- Vinny Eastwood Show thevinnyeastwoodshow/uploads/1/3/1/2/1312301/__vinny_eastwood_show_chris_wingate_feb_8.mp3 Posted 25th August 2010 by Wingate
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 21:56:58 +0000