Andrew Broad, VFF President, said that the Federal Government is not doing enough to monitor and regulate foreign ownership of agricultural land.

“Australians should be confident that Australian assets are being used in the National interest“, said Mr Broad

“The current foreign investment rules do not inspire the confidence Australians deserve.

“There is not enough data known and collected on foreign ownership and the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) threshold to much too high.

“The $231m threshold before review by the FIRB needs to be reduced.

“For example, a foreign business can buy a $10m property in the Western district, which is a significant purchase but does not register a blip on the FIRB radar.

”There is not any information about tracking creeping acquisitions either.

“While we encourage a better definition for the National Interest test for the FIRB, it will be meaningless if the threshold remains at $231 million.

“The ABARES report points out that Australia is a natural target for investment due to market conditions.

“According to the survey, over 11% of agricultural land is wholly or partly owned by foreign interests. But this is historical data and not comprehensive. It is clear more complete information is needed and a foreign investment registry is the way to do it.

“The appropriate response is to develop a registry of all foreign owned agricultural land and water assets.