Family First’s answer: いいえFamily First MP Rob Brokenshire says a foreign land ownership register in South Australia would help keep track of trends in overseas investment. A bill introduced by Mr Brokenshire to create a register of foreign owned land passed the state's Upper House yesterday and will now go the Lower House. Mr Brokenshire says it is not aimed at stamping out foreign investment but he wants to ensure the interests of local farmers are protected. "People would be able to look at that and if all of a sudden there was a big spike in the amount [of] foreign investment, the evidence is there, the debate can be had and the Parliament can also then debate transparently whether it's a good thing to have so much land being sold overseas," he said. He says the register would help map the trends and give farmers a better idea of who is buying land in the region. "We believe that we need to have our focus, food production in particular, on family farming," he said. "That's the backbone of this state and that's the future of this s...Source
Liberal’s answer: はいThe Commonwealth Government is putting in place better scrutiny and reporting of foreign purchases of agricultural land — delivering on our commitment to the Australian people at the last election. The Government will continue to welcome foreign investment, but the community must have confidence that this investment is coming in on our terms and for our nation’s benefit.
To improve the scrutiny of foreign purchases of agricultural land the Government will reduce the screening threshold from $252 million to $15 million from 1 March 2015. The new $15 million screening threshold will apply to the cumulative value of agricultural land owned by the foreign investor, including the purposed purchase.Source
