Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously, I do not agree with the characterisation that we plucked this figure from thin air. As I indicated to Senator Lambie and to the Senate, we have determined this $15 million proposed screening threshold as a result of the public consultation that we undertook when we were putting our pre-election policy commitments together. This was a figure that we openly and transparently put to the Australian people at the last election. We do not think it would be in the national interest to implement a screening threshold of zero dollars, which would in effect mean that every single transaction involving a foreign purchase and involving agricultural land would have to be screened by the Foreign Investment Review Board. We think that that would clearly not be a good use of taxpayers' resources, and it would not be good in terms of our approach as a country to foreign investment into Australia.

As I have indicated earlier, we do believe that foreign investment is important. We believe that the current threshold of $252 million is too high; we think it needs to be lower, so our proposal and our recommendation to the Senate is that $15 million is the appropriate threshold. As I indicated in answer to a previous question, it is a cumulative threshold. So any foreign purchaser who seeks to purchase agricultural land in Australia, once they reach the value of $15 million would trigger the Foreign Investment Review Board process.