Foreign investment in the Australian agricultural sector: current issues

Regulation of foreign investment in the Australian agricultural sector has become increasingly contentious. While some of the heat around the debate was driven by the recent Federal election in Australia, the companies we speak to about investing in the Australian agricultural sector are expressing increasing disquiet about the tone of the debate and the resulting increased uncertainty relating to agribusiness transactions. Some reform to Australia's foreign investment regime also appears inevitable, given that both major political parties have proposed change to foreign investment regulation. In light of this, we thought it would be worthwhile to set out the current framework governing foreign investment in the Australian agricultural sector and to map out likely or possible developments in the area.