Leslie White | November 16, 2011
AUSTRALIA'S foreign investment watchdog monitors if foreign ag investors keep their promises via "letters from their lawyers".
The senate inquiry into foreign investment has grilled Foreign Investment Review Board officials over the “National Interest” test.
FIRB officials admitted the board has never decided a foreign purchase of agricultural land or water would be against the national interest.
Nationals Senator Fiona Nash pressed FIRB officials on what monitoring it carried out to ensure foreign companies or governments kept promises regarding their purchases.
She and Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan as well as Greens Senator Christine Milne were concerned companies could promise to keep selling food produced on Australian land into the global market, only to later send food exclusively to their own countries.
Asked what monitoring took place of guarantees given, the FIRB said it got letters from the lawyers of the foreign companies.
Pushed further by Senator Nash, a FIRB official said the board kept “an eye on” the market.
Other details were not provided, but were requested to be provided at a later date.
Senator Nash also questioned the FIRB on how many farms in Australia were worth more than $231 million – the amount which triggers the FIRB to consider whether a foreign selloff is in the national interest.
FIRB officials could not answer immediately but said they could find the information.
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