Making Third Party Submissions on Overseas Investment Applications

Third parties are people or organisations who consider that their rights, obligations and interests are affected in some way by the outcome of a particular application for overseas investment.

On this page

1. Consultation
2. Submissions to the OIO
3. Submission requirements
4. What happens to third party submissions?

Consultation

There are no explicit requirement under the Overseas Investment Act 2005, or the overseas investment provisions of the Fisheries Act 1996, that require the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), or the relevant Ministers to receive or hear submissions from third parties.

The Overseas Investment Act and the Fisheries Act contain powers for the Ministers, or the OIO, to seek information from third parties as they consider appropriate, but a third party cannot demand that the Ministers or the OIO consult with them.

Any third party submissions to the Ministers, or to any staff of their offices, will always be referred to the OIO. The Minister, or their staff, will not be available to meet or discuss an application with a third party. The OIO will determine whether the submission is necessary so that it can carry out its functions in advising the Ministers.

Submissions to the OIO

As a third party submitter, correspondence to the OIO will only be accepted on the following basis:

• the receipt or consideration of the submission will generally create no right to natural justice for the third party submitter. The OIO will accept third party submissions only where consideration of those submissions is necessary to the performance of its functions (for example, the submission may contain information that is relevant to the consideration of an application), and
• third party submissions will only be considered if they are relevant to the criteria and factors that apply to the relevant sections of the Overseas Investment Act and the Fisheries Act.

Submission requirements

Third party submissions must be received:

• in writing, and
• by the OIO within five working days from the initial contact. The OIO may allow an extension of this time on a case by case basis.

Third party submitters must be aware of these guidelines:

• the content of the submission, and the submitter's identity may be made known to the applicant
• the applicant will be asked to comment on the submission
• if the submitter wishes his or her identity to be withheld, the submitter must separately provide a written statement to the OIO identifying the harm that would result if the information were released, and how that harm relates to one of the specific withholding provisions of the Official Information Act 1982.

If the OIO receives a request for the identity of the third party submitter to be withheld, they will then assess whether there is good reason this. Submitters cannot veto the release by the OIO of their identity. The OIO will not withhold information on the grounds of lack of consent. However, a submitter can ask the Office of the Ombudsmen to investigate whether a decision of the OIO to release the identifying information was reasonable.

Third party submitters should be aware that the OIO may release the submission, and the identity of the third party submitter, by request from another third party under the requirements of Official Information Act.

What happens to third party submissions?

After the applicant has had the opportunity to make comments on the submission, the OIO will consider whether any of the matters raised in the submission are relevant to the consideration of the application. The OIO may take legal advice on this matter.

The OIO will then:

• send a copy the submission to the Ministers, and
• advise the Ministers on whether the matters raised in the submission are relevant to the consideration of the application.