Auckland Airport Sale: Ready to Fly

This blog was visited by a large number of Googlers yesterday. They were searching for Auckland International Airport [AIA] information.

Those searches were principally related to questions about the possibility of its sale, so I thought I would write something opinionated on just that subject.

This interest would have been sparked by the National Government's relaxing of rules and legislation surrounding the overseas ownership and purchase of New Zealand assets announced by them today.

I wrote back in February that we were likely to see just this very scenario occur:

With the new National Government in place and the current relaxing of the rules around the RMA, the major planning law that has stopped economic development of New Zealand, we could expect to see developments in other areas of business in regards to relaxing laws and legislation to allow business to flow quicker and therefore more efficiently and more profitably.

Small parts of overseas investment criteria have been relaxed immediately but there will be a review of the Overseas Investment Act with a view to relax current complications and confusion.

The 3 main points of the act that will be looked at latter in the year that are pertinent to any possible bid for Auckland Airport are:

1. the thresholds determining which land and business investments are screened are set at the right level -- so only genuinely sensitive assets are captured.

2. Providing greater certainty for investors, by removing the ability to substantially change overseas investment rules during applications.

3. Simplifying the screening of investments in sensitive land, while ensuring that overseas investors are subject to a higher standard than domestic investors.

The airport sale was stymied by the previous Labour Administration by a law that was expressly passed for the AIA bid by DAE and the Canadian Teacher's Pension fund as well as confusion brought by the 3 parts of the act noted above.

With an overhaul of this act, relaxation of other overseas investment rules and a business friendly shake-up of Auckland Council's that hold airport shares, Auckland Airport will soon be in play.

Disclosure I own AIA shares in the Share Investor Portfolio


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c Share Investor 2009

Aren't those banks just utter Bastards

After getting some shtick recently from my bank, the ASB Albany branch, who have decided, after much arguing by my good self, that they will waive early repayment fees for a loan I made a few years back but didn't agree to any fee charged when initially taking out that loan, I came across a story today in the Nelson Mail that just made my day:



Defiant Mapua artist Roger Griffiths today made a stand against Westpac by withdrawing his $190,000 savings in $20 notes.

The bank provided a red-and-black carry bag to take away the cash after meticulously counting it in front of Mr Griffiths at its Nelson branch.

Mr Griffiths, a loyal Westpac customer for 25 years, decided to withdraw his money after the bank rejected his application for an $80,000 mortgage. "It's about time normal people took a stand."

He said the bank turned down his application because he did not have a regular income as an artist. However, he was a successful artist, exhibiting his paintings at the World of Wearable Art complex, in Christchurch and New York, he said. (Go here for rest of story)

Roger has got it right, you have to fight these bastards because they will walk all over you if you don't.

Incidentally, most good lenders would have lent him the money, and so would I, based on the record with his bank alone. After all, we all remember that Westpac is the bank that will give away millions without any double checking your ability to pay your debts.

My loan payment dispute with ASB has not been rectified to my satisfaction because they have time limited their offer to July 31 and they were not the terms of my original loan.

The fact that they have offered to waive the fees though means I can use that offer against them when I take them to the disputes tribunal.

Fight your bank if you think they are wrong, if you don't get what you want, at least you tried and you might have some fun, like I have had, giving them a hard time.

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I'm Buying: Mainfreight Management delivers the goods

I must have had some kind of brain explosion yesterday, something in my personal life made me drop my risk/reward guard and I ended up spending just over $35,000.00.

I have wanted to have a medium sized splurge on a few stocks for the last year or so and the life changing event yesterday allowed me to finally release the financial and mental rubber band and take that risk.

I have been chugging along buying small parcels of shares over the last year April 2009 | July 2009 | July 2008 | June 2008 | June 2008 | but yesterday ended up buying 7000 more The Warehouse Group [WHS.NZ] shares and 1875 Mainfreight Ltd [MFT.NZ] shares at $4.20 per share, to take my holding to a nice round 5000 in the old Share Investor Portfolio.

I was tossing up between Mainfreight and Ryman Healthcare [RYM.NZ] and superior Mainfreight management, which I often obsess about, won me over.

I bought my original Mainfreight holding just over 2 years ago for just under 8 bucks, yes you read it right, 8 bucks. Over that holding period the stock has now cost me around $6.85 per share after dividends and tax credits are added, so that makes yesterday's purchase a bargain.

I am happy to hold at both prices.

** Photo & share purchase dedicated to my dear old Dad, who must be still driving a truck, wherever he is now, for the last 15 years!


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Commonsense VS Politics

The dumping of the introduction of folate into our daily bread by National just shows us how politically motivated our politicians are rather than acting on facts (well duh Darren).

The Nazi style move by Labour and its continued support to introduce folate into our bread shows us that the left still want to control us, but the fact that this wasn't rejected quickly by National is a worry.

The use of folate of any kind is a personal choice, to say otherwise is to go down a track that would ultimately have citizens eating what politicians want from State owned markets (with long lines and shortages no doubt) and we rejected that at the 2008 election.

To have National making the move based on political motivation rather than a question of personal choice or the fact that there are questions about synthetic folate and the danger of it, is just more of the same crap that we put up with over the last 9 years of the heavy handed socialist/nazi style regime that Labour presided over.

This political rather than fact based governance is really just a lie, all it does is keep the ignorant and stupid happy and keeps the incumbent Government's poll ratings up.

The same can be said of the global warming nonsense that National are continuing with.

It is a a clear myth acknowledged by most yet the bullshit rolls on simply because it buys votes from the rabid left vocal sector of our country, never mind that the facts are that the whole GW frenzy is a lie.

This way of governing is the rule of the vocal moronity and it is a sign of weakness from the Government.

For god sake, have your own ideas, act on commonsense and fact and forget about the politics.

If John Key doesn't stand firm on something for the right reasons, his Government is going to fall due to the line adhered to and moved by the dropkicks and looney lefties in Government departments and interest groups that he is currently listening to.

Lets see the commonsense that we were promised before the election.

c P0litical Animal 2009