Coalition Tightens Rules On Foreign Land Grab

[icyfroth]

THE Abbott government has tightened the rules on foreign purchases of agricultural land in a bid to have a more transparent system.

From March 1 the Foreign Investment Review Board screening threshold for purchases will be reduced from the current level of $252 million to $15 million, with a foreign ownership register of agricultural land also due to be established.

Making the announcement in the NSW town of Murrumbateman, Tony Abbott said the restrictions would result in the “right investment” for the nation.

“Foreign investment is important to us but it’s got to be investment that serves our national interest, it can’t just serve the investors’ interests,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Abbott also announced that the Australian Tax Office will start collecting information on all new foreign investment in agricultural land from July 1, regardless of value.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said Australians living in regional and rural regions wanted a tighter control on “who owns what”.

“In the past we were left with this ridiculous scenario where someone could go to the north of Yass and buy $240 million worth of land one day, then go to the south of Yass and buy another $240m of land the next day … and never have to go to the Foreign Investment Review Board,” he said.

“People want to know that we are in control of our nation and we determine what happens and how it happens and we have complete transparency in how it happens.”

Further changes are expected within weeks aimed at foreign investment in residential real estate.
 

The Greens said the FIRB changes were a “step in the right direction” but called for an outright ban on the sale of agricultural land and water licenses to wholly-owned subsidiaries of overseas governments.

“It’s critical we make sure that Australia’s agricultural land and water are seen as key national assets not to be sold off recklessly,” Greens leader Christine Milne said.

“As global warming and extreme weather events disrupt food production worldwide, land grabbing and outsourcing food production by major importers of Australian food is undermining trade rules and threatening our food security.

Entire Article Here

Apparently Labor want to increase the threshold up to $1billion.

Mr Joyce said the amount of Australian land in foreign ownership is 2.2 times the size of Victoria.

Food for thought.

[go-tazz]

A bit late,

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/chinese-mine-giant-snaps-up-43-nsw-farms/story-e6frg6nf-...

Chinese buyers are already buying land and ultimately raising the prices,(they do tend to over pay though).

http://www.smh.com.au/national/field-of-dreams-chinese-buyer-swoops-on-farm-land-20140920-10jeeg.htm...

[icyfroth]

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@***super_nova*** wrote:

It's difficult, if there is no development there are no jobs.  We do not have enough local companies to develop the land.  The same goes for the agricultural properties.  Cubbie station was for sale for how many years, before the government allowed it to be sold to o/s consortium?  It was more than decade:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubbie_Station

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Yes to foreign investment. No to foreign ownership.

[vicr3000]

A bit late.

More than a bit. The boat saield years ago.

I have quite a few farming friends down Western Vic, firstly the Plantations came along

and a fair few older farmers took the opportunity to get out, at high prices.

Then the Chinese came along and kept the market bubbling along.

Some properties don't even hit the market, sold on a one to one basis.

Icy

That's the problem.

[icyfroth]

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@vicr3000 wrote:

A bit late.

More than a bit. The boat saield years ago.

I have quite a few farming friends down Western Vic, firstly the Plantations came along

and a fair few older farmers took the opportunity to get out, at high prices.

Then the Chinese came along and kept the market bubbling along.

Some properties don't even hit the market, sold on a one to one basis.

Icy

That's the problem.

---

No government is addressing it!

Nobody is even talking about it!

Why not?

[vicr3000]

Don't know.

I wish they would.

[icyfroth]

Aussies too busy infighting about party preferences to look outside the box and see what's happening in real life Australia.

[iapetus_rocks]

It's a "systems failure".

Our political parties who chase donations of money from private interests, will have an obligation to represent the interests of those who pay them the most.

Our politicians tell us "this (action) will create jobs." But it's jobs for 457 visa holders who work for foreign companies which export the profits. and we get nothing in return.

We vote Labor and we vote LNP when we should be voting for the Greens (although I don't even trust them all that much)

We continue to vote for political parties who sell our collective properties to private interests, becaue those interests pay them bribes to do so.

We are fools to vote for them and they are exploiting our foolishness. They treat us like mushrooms and expect us to be faithful and grateful for the few crumbs which "trickle down" onto our plates.

The failure is with our assumptions that a capitalist society will still  have due regard for the social weal.

It won't. It has been proven so many times over. again and again.

Public assets privatised, have historically led to higher prices.

Public resources sold off to private interests at bargain basement prices means that we get cheated and end up with  a degraded environment.

We vote for people who wear purple ties to their meetings where they conspire to enrich themselves and to send us to a rather polluted poor-house all at the same time.

And then when we finally voice our objections, they throw us a few crumbs in legislature which we suck up as if it were manna from heaven.

Sticks in my throat.