New Zealand has the most stringent foreign investment laws in the OECD. The Resource Management Act (RMA) makes it exorbitantly expensive to build new supermarkets with scale and facilities that actually can compete. Several analysts actually argue: is there any space left to do this? Is there any growth left in the market to make this work? Our strict liquor laws give competitors another tool with which to bludgeon newcomers, and all the while, the Government is threatening any newcomer that they might be forced to share their expensive new supply chains with their competitors. So is it any wonder that foreign supermarket chains don't want to see New Zealand as an attractive destination for expansion and would probably rather go to Australia?