Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

(1) That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) on 23 February 2016, the then Treasurer, the Honourable Scott Morrison MP, announced his decision to approve the acquisition of the land and assets of the Tasmanian Land Company (TLC), including the Van Diemen's Land (VDL) Company, by Moon Lake Investments,

  (ii) in announcing the approval, the then Treasurer noted the commitment by Moon Lake to create an additional 95 jobs and to invest an additional $100 million into VDL farms, including for ecological restoration; and that, given these considerations, inter alia, he was satisfied that Moon Lake's acquisition of TLC was not contrary to the national interest,

     (iii) in June 2019, the media reported extracts of a letter written by senior managers at VDL to Moon Lake seeking indemnity from any animal welfare or workplace health and safety loss or damage, and citing inadequate repairs and maintenance as the reason for this request, and

  (iv) Moon Lake has reportedly invested less than $20 million of the promised additional $100 million into VDL farms; and

(b) calls upon the Treasurer to impose a new condition on Moon Lake, under section 74 of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975, compelling the company to:

  (i) make public the details on how it intends to invest the outstanding amount of the promised $100 million into VDL farms by 31 August 2019, and

     (ii) invest the outstanding amount of the promised $100 million into VDL farms by 31 July 2021.

(2) That a message be sent to the House of Representatives seeking its concurrence in this resolution.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer's powers under the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 do not extend to compelling the public disclosure of this information.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When our current Prime Minister was Treasurer and he announced the details of this sale, he said it was in the public interest because Moon Lake Investments had made an undertaking that they would spend $100 million on this iconic business and piece of land in Tasmania's north-west, indeed the biggest dairy in the country. They have not met those undertakings. Indeed, there have been leaked allegations—very serious allegations—by the staff of the company asking to be indemnified against underinvestment in the business and the potential ramifications that has for animal welfare issues and cruelty on the farm, not to mention underinvestment in Tasmanian devil environmental mitigation and the employment of locals in your neck of the woods, Senator Duniam.

This is not good enough. Our foreign investment laws aren't worth the paper they're written on if they're not enforceable. It is possible for this to be enforced. There is a pathway forward there. I ask the Senate to support this motion.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Whish-Wilson be agreed to.