FIRB have been extremely variable in their decision timeframes since Covid (lots of WFH still in APS), but this seems excessive and from my experience the common delays I have seen have been:
1. Incomplete - sometimes proponents forget or fail to supply additional info, or they get arrested/vanish into Party Re-education camps. 2. Nearby defense facilities or areas of strategic/defense facilities e.g. Woomera or Pine Gap etc (not sure if this comes into play here) 3. Strategic minerals considerations e.g. rare earth/lithium and other peculiar metals - probably not an issue in this case being iron ore 4. Previous red flags or previous attempts from foreign parties that might have raised red flags before 5. FIRB approval completed but referred to the Treasurer for final decision making - sitting on Jim's intray. Not everything goes through the Treasurer's in-tray but sensitive ones or deals that interest FIRB and or other stakeholders like Defense/ASIS/ASIO/Dept Foreign Affairs and Trade etc enough to send to the treasurer can be often be significantly delayed. 6. Simple administrative laziness or delays - someone in Canberra went on annual/maternity leave. Yes it happens.
As people have mentioned - pretty opaque decision-making process so a bit of a guessing game as to whats going on.
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