Great Southern Land, for Foreign Investment

Executive Summary

The pending acquisition of Australia's leading grain handler, GrainCorp, by US commodities giant ADM, and the agreed sale of two of the three biggest Australian energy utility companies to State Grid, a Chinese SOE, has raised concerns amongst some Australians about the extent of foreign direct investment in key Australian assets. While there is always going to be some concern amongst the public about the control of Australian assets being in overseas hands, it is important to recognise the following:

• firstly, that foreign investment in Australia is, generally speaking, crucial to economic growth and prosperity (and especially so in uncertain economic times like the present);