Australia is one of the few countries in the world that allows foreign purchasers to buy Australian freehold land. While investment from overseas should be encouraged, foreign ownership in our country is not in Australia’s best interests.

The Foreign Investment Review Board, with few staff and thousands of applications, rejects only a handful of applications each year.  The staff to applications ratio and the sheer quantity of approvals questions the level of due diligence outside of just the rubber stamp to recommend.

It is not in Australia’s interests to “sell off the farm” as a large portion of Australia’s most significant parcels of land and farms are now in the hands of foreign owners. Great Britain and China are now the top foreign owners of land and resources in Australia.

While the overall percentage of foreign-owned land in Australia remains low, the properties foreign-owned are premium and highly-prized assets that should have always remained in the hands of Australians.   Foreign-owned Australian assets also means that the profits of these businesses flow overseas and any taxes received in Australia are minimal, if at all.

Recent examples of these purchases include the largest dairy farm in Australia situated in Tasmania, huge cattle properties such as the Kidman group, and the long-term lease of the Port of Darwin, all sold to Chinese interests, with the support of the Chinese government.

Senator Roberts calls for a reverse in the foreign-ownership trend by introducing stricter laws to bring Australia in line with most of the world, and strictly exclude foreign-ownership of Australian land and resources.

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