Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

In answering this I am going to be very clear to distinguish between commenting on specific circumstances and commenting on the general. Specifically, it is the case that Tiger Airways is owned by foreign interests and any investment would therefore be treated as foreign investment. As a matter of principle, foreign investments that are subject to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act, or the government's foreign investment policy, are examined against the national interest, to which I referred in my primary answer. Again, I say to the senator that we obviously do not comment or publicly speculate on any such specific proposal. To the extent that the question relates to the 49 per cent foreign ownership limit, as opposed to more general rules around foreign ownership, those questions should be properly addressed to the Minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.