Foreign investment back on the agenda

Key Points:

Perhaps the more radical proposal is to lower the thresholds for approval of private foreign investment in agribusiness.

Foreign investment in Australia would face significant new hurdles if proposals just tabled by a Parliamentary committee were adopted.

The proposals are aimed primarily at foreign investment in the agricultural sector, but would also affect investment in other areas. They are contained in a report by the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee, which was tabled on 26 June.

Agribusiness

The Committee recommends a two-pronged strategy in relation to foreign investment in agribusiness:

• better systems to capture information about where investors are coming from and where they're investing;