Foreign Ownership

As long as I can remember, Australia has been strapped for cash which has sent our banks on annual crusades
overseas to borrow cash to meet our spending habits and our Treasury going cap in hand to Japan, Europe ,
USA and now China to flog soverign bonds.

The other side of the borrowing coin is foreign investment which many Australians are weary of.
Whether it be the foreign ownership of farms, mining, housing or our iconic business brands, Australia is genuinely conflicted as the Yanks say. We need the money but we dont want to concede the property.

Away back in the early 1970s Geoff Whitlam embarked on a mission to "buy back the farm" but at the time the
average Australian did not see the point and was easily persuaded by Malcolm Frased backed by big business
and Foreign interests that this was not the way to go. Ironically Geoff was starved of funds and had to resort to dodgey foreign financing arranged by an equally dodgey foreign broker and the rest is history.

Since then we have seen the Japanese arrive and most of them leave with the exception of mining.

The new wave of foreign "raiders" are Chinese and we now hear the same objections. "They're taking over the country and only years ago we were fighting Communism in Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam".

Perhaps we could start a debate on this board to discuss the pros and cons of foreign investment; particuluarly
Chinese.

-Are we living beyound our means?
-Should we allow our farmland to be foreign owned?
-Should we allow our agribusinesses to be foreign owned?
-Should we allow our valueable resources to be owned by foreigners?
-Should we allow our iconic companies and brands to be foreign owned?
(we have already lost icons such as Fosters, XXXX, Arnotts, Bundaberg Rum, most of our Sugar Processing etc)?
-Plum Aussie real estate foreign owned?
-Our downtown core buildings?
-Will we eventually have to rely on "Aboriginal Rights" to retain ownership of anything Australian.
etc.
Have other countries got it right where foreign ownership is more restricted that in Aus. e.g.: Indomnesia.
( Indonesia has "Contracts of Work" agreements with foreign resource investors whereby 51% ownership
of the project has to be divested to an Indonesian owner within 12 years and that minerals have to get a
primary processing in Indonesia to add local value and to diversify trade.)

Rather than being like a frog boiling, it is better to openly discuss these issues now rather than later.
Our Treasurer has been recently in China spruking Australia as a source amazing investment for the cashed -up
Chinese investor and indicating to them the "buck stops with him" when it comes to FIRB decisions. The
current Government has lifted the enterprise value from $300 mil to $1 billion value before it has to be referred
to the FIRB as a subject of foreign takeover.

At present over 70% of our resources are foreign owned with profits being telephoned abroad which to gets us back to where we began, this requires our Banks make annual pilgrimages abroad cadging funds to feed our spendthrift ways, growing trade deficits and mounting debt.

And, finally, what would happen to Australia if Uncle Sam declared trade sanctions on China?
Would we go with Uncle Sam and shoot ourselves in the foot economically?
or
Would we follow our wallet and back the Chinese?

Its either Arthur or Martha folks !

So come on Aussies, lets hear your considered opinions?

Moorookamick