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The Government has set up a working group to advise ministers on how the collection, sharing and use of business and personal information will impact on public services in the coming years.

“The Government has put in a lot of effort over recent years to provide frameworks for the collection, storage and use of information,” Finance Minister Bill English says.

“In particular, we have worked hard to catch up with public expectations about security and privacy in the fast-moving electronic environment.

New Zealand has been ranked 4th in the 2013 Global Open Data Barometer, released in London by the World Wide Web Foundation and Open Data Institute.

“This is a real coup for New Zealand.  The Barometer is the first survey of global trends which ranks 77 countries on how they release their public data and the benefits those initiatives have for citizens and the economy,” says Mr English. 

Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson and Associate Finance Minister Jonathan Coleman have approved the new recommendation of the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to grant consent to Milk New Zealand Holding Limited to acquire the 16 Crafar farms.

“New Zealand has a transparent set of laws and regulations around overseas investment,” Mr Williamson says.

Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson and Associate Finance Minister Jonathan Coleman said today’s High Court judgment on the judicial review of Shanghai Pengxin’s bid to acquire the 16 Crafar farms provides a new judicial interpretation of complex legislation.

The High Court considered the case on two grounds. These were:

Land Information Minister Maurice Williamson and Associate Minister of Finance Dr Jonathan Coleman have accepted the recommendation of the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) to grant consent to Milk New Zealand Holding Limited (Milk New Zealand), a subsidiary of Shanghai Pengxin Group Co. Limited, to acquire the 16 Crafar farms.

"It is clear that all criteria under sections 16 and 18 of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 have been met, therefore we accept the recommendation of the OIO to grant consent," Mr Williamson said.