New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says he won't stop demanding for answers from Fonterra over the sale of its consumer businesses to French dairy giant Lactalis.
Fonterra agreed to sell major brands like Mainland and Anchor for $3.845 billion, with details of the deal already made publicly available, it said.
The sale includes a long-term agreement for Fonterra to sell milk and ingredients to Lactalis.
In a statement on Thursday, the co-operative said it had been engaging with farmers in detail over the disinvestment for past the 16 months, and all terms of the deal had been shared with them and publicly disclosed.
But Peters questioned the length of the three-year global supply agreement and likened it to previous sales.
"Fonterra claims that they have told the farmers and the public the facts and having looked at the annual report, there's a whole lot of things that are not ... there's a whole lot of questions that need to be answered," he told Morning Report.
"How long is this so-called contract? Is it a three-year deal? Well, they've claimed that, no, it's longer than that, but of course, it is an automatic rollover unless terminated ... what does an automatic rollover unless terminated mean?
"These are fancy words, but ultimately, the contract is not secure in terms of long-term supply, and we are selling off brands we've worked at since the 1880s to build and here we go again, doing a Silver Ferns Farms, where the public and the farmers were told one thing, and the truth was elsewhere.
"I'm asking these executive directors and others to step up and tell us what on earth is going on, and please don't give us some flimflam and think we're going to swallow it."
Peters said Fonterra's statement wasn't good enough and he wouldn't stop probing until he got his answers.
The statement said there was "no bonus payment for management team members tied to the completion of the transaction or outcome of the shareholder vote."
But Peters wasn't buying it.
"I'm simply asking questions of them and their response to yesterday just simply is not adequate to say they won't get executive bonuses on this deal.
"That's not how executive bonuses work. Their forecast will have this deal baked in, and achieving that full result is the core of the incentive payments agreed to by the board.
"So, what are those incentive payments? What are they supposed to be? Please tell us now. We're entitled to know."
Peters acknowledged that it was a decision for shareholders but said they had previously asked for financial backing from the government to promote their products overseas.
He said New Zealanders were entitled to know because "we've made this mistake over and over again.
"Do you remember Silver Ferns Farms, the second biggest meat company going to Chinese ownership on deceit? Do you remember Westland? That again went out of their ownership.
"How many times does this have to happen to us and which other country in this part of the in any part of the world with our sorts of normal products is not trying to get that maximum added value for their economy, for their employment, and for the well-being of the country's economic future?"
Peters said sales like this weren't happening in other countries and that New Zealand were giving a huge advantage to a French company for products that have been built over decades.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
