We Talk about the future of our kids,carbon polution,work smart-not hard,think global-act Local.YET!----YET!! AGAIN,we sell our arse's and country to the cheapest foreign interest,ALL from piss poor government legislation,AND bad manangement,that can walk away after ripping shareholders and investors off.
What a JOKE!
Cameron Houston SMH news article June 26, 2011
ALMOST $1 billion of foreign investment in Australia's embattled timber industry, including several large Victorian deals, has sparked fresh calls for tougher regulations on overseas ownership.
Successive federal governments have failed to monitor foreign investment in local farming land, with a Senate committee currently awaiting a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that will provide the first snapshot of overseas ownership.
But the acquisition of almost 500,000 hectares of Australian timber plantations over the past 18 months by companies from China, Canada, Singapore and the United States will heighten concerns about a loss of national sovereignty.
A ruling in the Federal Court next week could pave the way for 56,000 hectares owned by Wilmott Forests, including plantations in north-east Victoria, to be sold to offshore interests after the company was placed in receivership last year.
It would follow a flurry of overseas sales at bargain basement prices, after the collapse of several timber companies involved in managed investment schemes that provided tax benefits for agricultural investors.
A Canadian pension fund is now believed to be Australia's largest plantation owner after it paid $415 million for 250,000 hectares of plantations formerly owned by local operator Great Southern. The Alberta Investment Management Corp has moved to expand its Australian portfolio and is eyeing off about 130,000 hectares owned by Elders Forestry.
US-based timber investor Global Forest Partners also paid $340 million for 39,000 hectares from Timbercorp along with leasehold rights for another 53,000 hectares.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Andrew Broad said the land and attendant water rights should have been sold to local farmers rather than flogged to foreign buyers.
''This is a huge concern for all Australians. Over the past week we've tried to get the Senate to launch an inquiry into this. We can't allow some of our most valuable assets to be transferred into foreign ownership,'' Mr Broad said.
Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten said last week he was aware of growing disquiet in rural communities when The Sunday Age reported that the Qatar government had acquired more than 8000 hectares of prime grazing land in the Western District.
This week, Victorian Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg joined an unlikely alliance of politicians that includes the Greens, independent senator Nick Xenophon and coalition stalwart Bill Heffernan, to demand greater scrutiny of foreign ownership.
''It is clearly inadequate to have a situation where these acquisitions can go under the radar and where we find ourselves in a position in which we do not have a reliable and comprehensive register of information about foreign investments in Australian agricultural assets,'' Mr Frydenberg told Parliament.
While New Zealand requires government approval for foreign investment in any rural land exceeding five hectares, Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board only examines sales above $231 million.
Senator Xenophon has called for changes requiring the Treasurer to approve all foreign acquisitions of rural land above $5 million, and the introduction of a national interest test.
