NZ dodges tighter rules for buying land
New Zealanders will not be caught by new Australian moves to tighten rules around foreign investment in farmland and electricity infrastructure.
Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison announced the new restrictions in response to concerns about Chinese foreign investment in the country.
‘‘All future applications for the sale of electricity transmission and distribution assets, and some generation assets, will attract ownership restrictions or conditions for foreign buyers,’’ he said.
Under the new rules, agricultural land worth more than A$15 million (NZ$16.29 million) must first be marketed for at least 30 days to Australians before they can be sold to foreigners.
But the thresholds for the agricultural land significant and notifiable action framework do not apply to investors from Chile, New Zealand, Thailand and the United States.
In such cases, the framework applying to other types of Australian land, such as commercial land and residential land, still applies where the land in which the interest to be acquired is both agricultural land and another type of Australian land.
The amount of Australian farm land owned by Chinese interests has surged tenfold in the past year, climbing above 14 million hectares or 2.5 per cent of all agricultural land.
Morrison said the land register showed foreign investors ‘‘held just 13.6 per cent of all Australian agricultural land’’ on June 30, 2017.
‘‘The Turnbull government understands that trade and foreign investment creates jobs for Australians,’’ he said.
‘‘At the same time, the Turnbull government has taken consistent and determined action when it comes to ensuring foreign investment is not contrary to the national interest.’’
For the electricity sector, the new rules will allow the government to ‘‘actively manage the level of ownership and control from investors in a single asset or within a sector,’’ Australia’s Treasury said.