Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Prime Minister, and I thank the member for her question. As she would know, as Treasurer, I rejected the proposal for foreign ownership of Kidman and Co. I rejected it; those opposite were going to approve it. We rejected it, and that has provided the opportunity for bidders to come forward to purchase that property.

It is Kidman and Co that is selling that property not the government—no-one else. They are in charge of the process for deciding which bids they will accept or not accept, and they will obviously be subject to the legislation governing foreign investment in Australia. So, I am pleased about the fact, having rejected the foreign ownership proposal for Kidman, which was going to be approved by those opposite had they won the election, that now there are other bids coming forward. When those bids come forward we will consider those to the extent that they require the approval of the government in relation to any foreign ownership component of those.

But, given we are on the topic of foreign investment, I am very pleased that in New South Wales there has been the announcement today that, following our decision to reject the foreign ownership proposal for Ausgrid, there has been a fully Australian owned proposal that has come forward. To achieve the sale of Ausgrid in New South Wales and that it remains under Australian ownership has been facilitated through the operations of the decisions here. But I particularly wish to commend the New South Wales Treasurer, Gladys Berejiklian, and the New South Wales Premier, Mike Baird, for what they have done to ensure that these assets can be recycled and invested back into important infrastructure in New South Wales. Both of these decisions, whether on Ausgrid or Kidman, show that the government is doing its job when it comes to policing foreign investment in this country, and that is bringing forward Australian investment—

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