AUSTRALIA: Opposition plans to overhaul Australia Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB)

Tuesday December 4 2012

It is being reported that Australia’s center right opposition would introduce greater transparency around the country’s Australia foreign investment watchdog and bolster its expertise on agriculture if it wins an election scheduled for late 2013.

Julie Bishop, the shadow foreign minister in the Liberal-National coalition, is reported to have said her party wouldn’t codify an existing, undefined national interest test. But it would make changes to the approval process of the Australia Foreign Investment Review Board.

She is quoted as having said “We have no intention of changing the national interest test, but we do believe there are opportunities that make the thresholds that trigger FIRB analysis clearer and more consistent.”

“We also believe there’s an opportunity to improve the expertise of the FIRB itself, so our focus will be on making the rules clearer in terms of the thresholds and giving the board more expertise particularly in the areas of agricultural business and agricultural land,” she said.

The coalition, which opinion polls favor to win the next federal election due next year, supports a government plan to establish a public register of land holdings.

About 11% of Australian farmland was wholly or partly owned by foreigners at the end of 2010, according to government figures.

This information will be updated as further details become available.