Australia still open for business, but greater certainty
needed
On 16 October 2013, Treasurer Joe Hockey stated in a speech to
the American Australian Association that "Australia is
open for business, open for investment and is going for
growth"1. Just over a month since making that
bold statement, the Treasurer has created uncertainty over
Australia's foreign investment policy by blocking Archer
Daniels Midland's (ADM) proposed AUD$3.4
billion takeover of GrainCorp Limited (GrainCorp).
This uncertainty is compounded by proposed changes to
Australia's foreign investment laws which have been announced
and which have not yet been legislated.
While the Treasurer noted in the announcement of this decision
that of the 131 significant foreign investment applications
received for his approval, the bid by ADM was the only one which
had not been approved, the decision has been criticised as being a
purely political decision. The takeover bid, the political
pressures that
