Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In recent times there has been considerable public concern about the level of foreign ownership of Australian resources, in particular our food and mineral resources. Foreign investment in Australia is not a new phenomenon, with substantial assets having originated from foreign investment. It can fairly be argued that foreign investment has brought with it considerable prosperity. But times are changing. With the world population predicted to exceed nine billion, the earth's resources are becoming more valuable. Food, water and mineral resources are being depleted, whilst demand for those resources simultaneously increases.

Australia is in a unique and secure position in that we have both mineral resources and food production capacity. Other countries are not so fortunate. Whereas in the past foreign investment was primarily driven by private sector investment opportunities and business growth, in the future it will be more about food and resource security. There is a clear pattern emerging. Global resources, including those in Australia, are being targeted by foreign governments with hungry, growing populations. Already, substantial levels of foreign investment are being made in resources and food production in South America, Africa and Australia, sometimes by agencies acting on behalf of other national governments.

Australia is particularly attractive to foreign investment because Australia is seen as a low-risk, stable country. However, we do not see very much large-scale foreign investment in manufacturing and other non-resource and non-food sectors, unless it is part of a global strategy to control the global supply of goods. In a recent speech relating to the Foreign Investment Review Board's decision not to recommend the Singapore stock exchange acquisition of the Australia Securities Exchange, the Treasurer stated:

No proposal has been rejected since 2001, and since we came to Government, over 99 per cent of applications have been approved without conditions.

I understand that over 40,000 applications have been approved by the FIRB over the past eight years. Those statistics should be cause for concern. The government has asked the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation to investigate the level of foreign ownership in rural land. I welcome that decision.

National security begins with food security and access to necessary resources. Foreign governments understand that. The Shenhua investment in the Liverpool Plains of New South Wales has exposed the changing nature of foreign investment in Australia and the long-term ramifications for our country. Australia's foreign investment review guidelines need to reflect both the changes that are driving foreign investment in Australia and the long-term risk to Australia of foreign ownership of Australian food and natural resources. Short-term gains may cost Australia dearly in the long term.

See this speech in context