A few weeks ago, while browsing pianos on TradeMe, I came across a Kawai upright with bids having just passed the reserve price of $4,000. An interested buyer had posted a public question to the seller offering to ‘buy now’ for $1,500, stating they ‘really wanted’ the piano but ‘couldn’t afford’ the minimum $4,000. To this, the seller simply replied ‘[Expletive] OFF’.

If you were to sell any good or service in an open auction, it would be stupid – not altruistic – to accept anything less than what the current highest bidder is willing to pay for it.

The same logic applies to selling farm land. It may seem a stretch – the only similarity between pianos and dairy cows is that they both tend to be black and white. Nevertheless, private property laws exist to protect the rights of land owners to sell their land to whomever they wish; especially the highest bidder.

Despite this, the recent commotion over the prospective sale of Lochinver Station to Chinese company, Shanghai Pengxin, is not surprising, given the widespread public antipathy towards foreign direct investment (FDI).

What is perhaps surprising however, is the apparent disregard of private property rights by most political opponents of the sale.

The New Zealand Initiative have recognised this alarming omission in public debates over foreign ownership and published a three-part series on FDI in the country. The final report, Open for Business, concludes that the strong bias in the Overseas Investment Act, against inwards FDI and New Zealander’s property rights, makes it unfit for purpose as it stands.

Lochinver Station is private land, not crown land. Politicians may speculate airily over whether the sale is ‘mutually advantageous’ or to what degree it will ‘benefit New Zealanders’, but at the end of the day, the property rights of the owners should be paramount unless a robust case to the contrary is made. The Stevenson Group should be allowed to accept the highest price offered on the open market. After all, the land has been up for tender since December 2013; ample time for a domestic company to have submitted an offer.

Unless those opposing the sale can make a worthwhile case for why it would be detrimental to the public interest, no New Zealander should be prevented from selling their private assets to the highest bidder, or indeed, to whomever they want. Otherwise, they probably deserve a response similar in nature (but more politely worded) to the one offered on TradeMe.