FIRB farm approval threshold being debated by Labor's Penny Wong
Federal Labor has revealed it will oppose tighter vetting of Asian investment in Australian farms and agribusinesses which set the threshold for referral to the Foreign Investment Review Board at just $15 million in the case of proposed acquisitions of agricultural land.
Senator Penny Wong has challenged Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to overturn the foreign investment crackdown advocated during Tony Abbott's tenure.
Labor has proposed amendments to government legislation to ease the scrutiny for Chinese, Korean and Japanese investors in farming land by lifting the government's proposed $15 million threshold to $50 million.
The $50 million level would match Thai and Singaporean investments under the free-trade agreements negotiated during the Howard government.
The current FIRB limit sits at $252 million before FIRB approval is needed.
There is a $1 billion threshold that American, Kiwi and Chilean investors have under their free-trade agreements with Australia.
Senator Wong suggested the bill currently before Parliament would send the message that Australia was not an enthusiastic destination for foreign capital.
