PRIME MINISTER:
It’s really terrific to be here near Yass on the Hodgkinson family property to make an important announcement which will help to strengthen our country for the long-term.
On election night, I said that Australia was under new management and once more open for business. We are open for business. We're certainly open for investment. This country has been built on foreign investment – British investment in agriculture, American investment in manufacturing, Japanese investment in mining and resources.
Foreign investment is important to us, but it's got to be investment that serves our national interests. It can't just serve the investors' interests, it's got to serve our national interests and so today I announce that the Government is implementing a key election commitment.
From 1st March, foreign purchases of agricultural land over $15 million will be subject to Foreign Investment Review Board screening and from the middle of the year, the Australian Taxation Office will be conducting a stocktake in conjunction with the states’ and territories’ titles offices to provide, over time, an ever more complete register of foreign agricultural landholdings in Australia.
This is not saying that we don't want foreign investment; we do want foreign investment, but it's got to be the right investment, that serves our purposes, it needs to be transparent and that's exactly what will happen as a result of this important election commitment that the Government is implementing from today.
I'm really pleased to be here with my colleagues. I'll ask the Treasurer and the Agricultural Minister to say a few words and I guess Angus should say a few words, this being a beautiful and important part of his electorate.
Joe?
TREASURER:
Thanks, Prime Minister. This is, as the Prime Minister said, an election commitment. It is the first step and not the last step in relation to greater integrity for the foreign investment regime.
In the next few weeks, we’ll be responding to the House of Representatives report into Residential Real Estate Investment by Foreign Investors. We’ll also have more to say about setting up a land register so that we have a better understanding of just how much foreign investment is in Australian land.
This is about integrity in the system. Now, there has been a lot of misinformation around. We want to know what the true state of foreign investment is in Australian land, particularly in agricultural land. What we are doing is setting it up with the Australian Taxation Office leading the way. They are the ones that not only are able to gather the information with the states, they’re also the ones that are able to ensure that there is integrity in the process in terms of registration of foreign ownership. And of course, the $15 million is not just for a single purchase of $15 million, it’s cumulative, so anyone that holds, for example, $10 million of investment now and then wants to purchase another $5 million or $6 million of agricultural land, that will be brought into the net for further approval.
PRIME MINISTER:
Ok, Barnaby?
AGRICULTURE MINISTER:
The first thing I would like to do is thank the Hodgkinsons for allowing us onto their place and it’s only a small group of people that came with us. I’d also like to thank Jan for the hat, otherwise I would be a brighter shade of tomato. But more importantly, this is about something that all the time when you’re out on the road, people are saying to you, “Look, we’ve got to get a tighter control on who owns want, we need to know” and in the past we were left with this ridiculous scenario where someone could go to the north of Yass and buy $240 million worth of land one day, then go to the south of Yass and buy another $240 million of land the next day, then go to the west of Yass and buy another $240 million and then the next day buy another $240 million and never have to go to the Foreign Investment Review Board.
Now, there’s only one group in Australia who still believes that that’s a logical place to be, and that’s the Australian Labor Party. Penny Wong is going to fight us on this issue because they just want to fight us on everything. So, even on this issue, which is something that is overwhelmingly being asked by people from the western suburbs to the western district, they want this and they want their Government to reflect their desire. Who’s going to fight against them? Penny Wong, Bill Shorten and the Australian Labor Party.
We’re getting great prices – record prices – for sheep, record prices for cattle. We’ve got great prices for cotton, we’ve got strong prices for grain. We’ve got a decent price for dairy even despite the turmoil that’s coming out with issues with the product and the Ukraine and Russia and sanctions that are happening in that area. The reason why we are having such a strong soft commodity market is because of the seasons, is because of a low cow number and is because of the actions of this Government. This Government, which has made it its goal to have three free trade agreements going, to make sure that we actually get the live export going, that opened six markets last year. When people say to me, “What difference does Tony and Joe make?” I say, “Go to the saleyards, have a look, there’s your difference”, and that’s a difference that you can put in your wallet, fold it up and bring real dignity back through the farm gate and back to the house.
Now, in amongst that, people want to know that we are in control of our nation and we determine what happens and how it happens and we have complete transparency in how it happens. This was asked of us by the Australian people, we are delivering for the Australian people and, once more, the only people that we have to fight is the Australian Labor Party, Penny Wong and Bill Shorten.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thanks, Barnaby. Angus?
ANGUS TAYLOR:
Thanks, Prime Minister. Welcome, everybody, to the wonderful electorate of Hume. I know many of you live right next door to it and it’s great to actually see you here and I encourage you to come here on a regular basis. We’ve got lots of things for you to do and cafes, restaurants and great places like this.
I did want to say one thing, though. Thank you very much to the Hodgkinsons for having us here today. They are typical of Australian agriculture and what’s made it great. A family that first came here in the 1850s, they’re still here farming passionately, farming with great energy, and they understand, as I do, that we are seeing extraordinary opportunities in agriculture opening up at the moment and central to that has been the policies of this Government.
I have never seen a turnaround in any market like we saw in the cattle industry in the last couple of months and we know that our policies are absolutely central to that. We have re-established markets that were destroyed and we’re opening up new markets and that’s what the Government is all about.
So, thank you again for being here today. It’s fantastic to have you here in Hume.
PRIME MINISTER:
Ok. Before I take questions, I should just note that there has been a terrorist raid in Sydney. Two men have been arrested by the joint counter-terrorism unit for planning what New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner has said was most likely an imminent terrorist attack. This is Government at all levels working together to keep the community safe and I just want the Australian people to understand that regrettably there are those out there, some living in our midst who would do us harm. But your Government at every level will do whatever we humanly can to keep you safe and today your Government has worked.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, can you give us some more details on that attack? Could you give us some details on what exactly was planned in that attack? What have you been told? What briefings have you had?
PRIME MINISTER:
The New South Wales Police have given an official briefing on the operational details and I don’t want to go into that. I just want to assure the Australian people that the Commonwealth, the states, the territories, in all our agencies, at every level are working together to keep our community safe. We are maintaining a ceaseless vigilance against those who would do us harm and today you saw that vigilance at work and effective.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, is this going to mean more red tape – this announcement today – for investment and will that drive it elsewhere?
PRIME MINISTER:
What you’re seeing is a lot of interest in Australia as an investment destination. Australia is a vastly more attractive investment destination now than it was 18 months ago. The carbon tax is gone, the mining tax is gone, our country is open for business. But, as we said pre-election and as we’re now doing post-election, it’s important that the investment is transparent and the investment is in our national interest. This is going to help to reassure the Australian public that the foreign investment we need is right for us – the foreign investment we need is right for us. It will be transparent, it will be accessible and it will help to keep our economy strong.
QUESTION:
Are there any other criteria apart from national interest that has to be met before it’s approved?
PRIME MINISTER:
The national interest test is a very broad-ranging test. It's not often that we knock applications back, but nevertheless, it is important that we ask ourselves the question: is this in the overall national interest? And this could embrace things like does this involve more jobs, does this involve more tax revenue, does this involve better utilisation of our country for Australia's benefit as well as for the benefit of the foreign investors?
QUESTION:
How will this new regime come to bear in assessing an application like we saw with ADM's potential takeover of GrainCorp, to you or the Treasurer?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'll ask the Treasurer to add to it, but what we're talking today is a new screening threshold for agricultural land. We'll have more to say about agribusiness in the weeks ahead.
TREASURER:
The Foreign Investment Act is very clear about the rules in relation to foreign investment and it gives the Treasurer the discretion to disallow an investment that contrary to the national interest. It is, as the Prime Minister said, a broad definition. That is in place now. For example, foreign investors are not allowed to buy residential real estate that is pre-existing real estate. They can buy new real estate, but pre-existing real estate is disallowed. I'll have more to say about that with the Prime Minister in the next few weeks.
In relation to regulation, we're going to have some regulation offsets. The FIRB process is actually quite a complicated process and it's quite an expensive process for the Government to run. We'll have more to say about that in the next few weeks. As I said, this is the first word and not the last word.
QUESTION:
Why the delay in the response on the residential real estate? And you say you need better enforcement for FIRB but how are you planning to fund that?
TREASURER:
You will hear more about those latter two questions in the not-too-distant future. We are properly consulting with stakeholders and properly consulting with colleagues about the response. It is the case that we will have more to say about agribusiness and the proper definition of agribusiness that is going to be subject to greater FIRB scrutiny.
It is also the case that we will have a lot more to say about residential real estate. It is clearly an issue in our metropolitan areas that there is seemingly an increase in unlawful acquisitions of existing residential real estate by foreign persons and you will see some action in the not-too-distant future.
QUESTION:
How often in the past, Treasurer, has foreign investment in agricultural land do you believe been counter to the national interest? And if it's not a common problem, are you trying to solve a problem here that we really don't have?
TREASURER:
Well, the Prime Minister first raised this as Leader of the Opposition back in 2012, I think it was, when we first released a discussion paper and a committee was chaired by Warren Truss.
This is a long-standing issue in rural Australia. It is an issue of concern. There are two aspects to it. Firstly, about you have a proper approval process, that's what we're announcing today, and the second is that you set up a proper registry so that we know how extensive foreign ownership is in agricultural land because there is no data at the moment. There's just no data other than the release from the ABS which is quite hotly disputed by various critics. So, I have absolutely no doubt this is part of the process of building greater integrity in the foreign investment system.
Now, the most celebrated, if you like, knock back under FIRB rules was, obviously, ADM's investment in GrainCorp. As the Prime Minister said, this is about the national interest and we are in a far more dynamic world and at times we're going to be tested and, obviously, foreign investment is one area that we need to be ever vigilant in.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, are you willing to make compromises on policy to budget repair through a national economic summit?
PRIME MINISTER:
I've seen some suggestions there should be an economic summit and I'm certainly very happy to consider a whole range of things to improve the quality of our national conversation when it comes to the economic challenges that we're facing.
As things stand, if there were to be an economic summit, the Labor Party would have nothing to say. They'd have absolutely nothing to say, because all the Labor Party has offered us by way of new proposals is to bring back the carbon tax, to bring back the mining tax and to restart the boats.
Now, Mr Shorten was asked on radio the other day what would he do to tackle the debt and deficit disaster that he helped to create and all he could say was a crackdown on foreign multinationals. Well, given the scale of the problem, that's simply not good enough and I suppose one of the arguments in favour of some kind of major national event might be that it would finally force the Leader of the Opposition and all of those who have been attacking the Government's attempts to rein in the problem that Labor created, it might finally force them to say what they might do because we have to do something. We cannot go on borrowing $1 billion a month every single month just to pay the interest on Labor's debt. That's one major teaching hospital every single month that could be built but can't because of this payment.
We could, in six months of interest repayments, cover the cost of the Bruce Highway upgrade, cover the cost of the Pacific Highway upgrade . In a year of interest repayments we could fully build the East West link which the new Labor government in Victoria is determined to sabotage even though it's going to cost them as much not to build the road as it was to build the road. So, what I want to do is get on with the job, that's what I want to do, but if some kind of national event helps, well it's certainly something that I will be considering.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, did any of your colleagues approach Malcolm Turnbull late last year about being Treasurer?
PRIME MINISTER:
I'm very happy with the team I've got – I'm very happy with the team I've got. It's been a very good team, it's worked extremely well through four years of opposition and now through almost 18 months of Government. As we've said, there are some head winds, economic developments overseas can produce some head winds. We've faced organised sabotage in the Senate from the Labor Party and what we need now is a Government that is allowed to get on with the job. If you don't like the Government's proposals let's see yours.
QUESTION:
Sean Edwards insists that he used the term fully competitive tender process in your conversation on Sunday, is that correct?
PRIME MINISTER:
The term that I have used in public and in private is a competitive evaluation process – a competitive evaluation process. There is quite a difference between an open tender and a competitive evaluation process. They're both competitive processes but an open tender is there for anyone and the last thing we would want to see is a Russian company, for argument's sake, bidding to produce an Australian submarine. It is standard defence procurement procedure for very sophisticated items of equipment to have a competitive evaluation process between selected tenderers but certainly we would encourage the Australian Submarine Corporation to be part of this competitive evaluation process.
QUESTION:
Was there any change in the process itself from Friday to Monday?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, what there was was a clarification of the Government's intention. There was some anxiety that ASC might in some way be cut out of the process and what I put beyond doubt in conversation with my South Australian colleagues was that ASC would be more than welcome to be involved.
QUESTION:
Mr Abbott, why are we still waiting for the agricultural white paper to be delivered? There's an expectation there that you’re going to make agriculture one of the key pillars of the national economy, when can we see that?
PRIME MINISTER:
It will be coming soon but it is important to get it right. I always say that it's more important to get things right than to rush them. There were a couple of things that we perhaps did try to do a little bit too quickly last year and we've learnt some important and salutary, even chastening lessons from that. So, there was an extensive consultation process. We are in the business of finalising the white paper. It will be out soon but we do want to make sure it's right and I'm absolutely confident that when it comes out it will give the whole country confidence that agriculture is going to be at least as big a part of Australia's future as it has been of the past.
QUESTION:
Do you no longer make the hard political decisions because you don't have the political capital?
PRIME MINISTER:
I am determined to make a difference for our country every day and if anyone thinks that the events of earlier this week will stop this Government from making difficult but necessary decisions, well they are dead wrong. They are dead wrong. This is a Government which is consumed with the desire to do the right thing by the country we love. I love this country and I want to spend every ounce of my energy, every fibre of my being, in the service of our country and one thing you will never see from this Government is the kind of procrastination and ineptitude and incompetence which we saw for six years under Labor.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, Angus has obviously told you a lot about the Hume electorate, he would always brag about it, what are your thoughts being here today?
PRIME MINISTER:
I could always learn more about the Hume electorate, but I do know a fair bit about it and I know that it is probably the Merino capital of Australia. I know that it is a diverse electorate with some of the greatest people in Australia. I have to say that I've pedalled through it quite a few times as part of my Pollie Pedal bike ride and on at least two of those occasions I stopped off at the Binalong Pub. I had some good times in the Binalong Pub. And not so long ago Margie, my wife, was contacted by the Binalong Childcare Centre and my understanding is that she’s going to be involved in some events for them. So, Angus is an outstanding local Member, but he’s not just an outstanding local Member, he’s a really promising Member of a Government with a very big future.
[ends]