Monday, November 15, 2010

How much Land are we Selling to Foreign Investors ?



Independent Senator Nick Xenophon - who will introduce a private member's Bill - argues present foreign investment rules are a "joke".

"No one is even monitoring how much of our farmland we are selling," he said.

The Greens, some Liberal MPs and Senator Xenophon want to give the Foreign Investment Review Board the power to block foreign investment in agriculture.

Australia, with its rich and fertile lands and sophisticated farming techniques, is a target for some of the world's biggest agricultural enterprises.
Taken from a story by Steve Lewis and Nic Christensen From: The Daily Telegraph.

Read the story here



Following hot on the heels from my post on Food Inc comes the story about how Australia is being targeted as a place to secure food for foreign nations.
We don't seem to understand the importance of food security, possibly because we are a young nation that has not experienced real food shortages.Many of our ancestors turned up here in the first place for doing things like stealing a loaf of bread, so it should come as no surprise.

The Daily Telegraph and Channel 10's "7PM Project" both featured this story today,which piqued my interest as I know of a couple of large properties recently sold to foreign interests.It seems unless the sale is more than $260 million (or a figure close to that) there is no requirement for a govt review.

If an army march's on it's stomach, then a nations food security is paramount to it's national security. What do you think ?

Posted by www.grahamereesblog.com
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