Extracts from...

Extracts from http://www.firb.gov.au/content/_downloads/AFIP_Aug2012.pdf

WHO NEEDS TO APPLY?
1. Foreign Governments and their Related Entities
All foreign governments and their related entities1 should notify the Government and get prior approval before making a direct investment in Australia, regardless of the value of the investment.

Foreign governments and their related entities also need to notify the Government and get prior approval to start a new business or to acquire an interest in land, including any interest in a prospecting, exploration, mining or production tenement (except when buying land for diplomatic or consular requirements). This is consistent with the Government’s longstanding practice.

Further guidance for foreign government investors is provided under Further Information for Business Acquisitions and, in particular, the section titled Foreign Governments and their
Related Entities.

Where a proposal involves a foreign government or a related entity, the Australian Government also considers if the investment is commercial in nature or if the investor may be pursuing broader political or strategic objectives that may be contrary to Australia’s national interest. This includes assessing whether the prospective investor’s governance arrangements could facilitate actual or potential control by a foreign government (including through the investor’s funding arrangements). Proposals from foreign government entities operating on a fully arms length and commercial basis are less likely to raise national interest concerns than proposals from those that do not.

Foreign Governments and their Related Entities
Foreign governments and their related entities include:
• a body politic of a foreign country;
• companies or other entities in which foreign governments, their agencies or related entities have more than an aggregate 15 per cent interest; or
• companies or entities that are otherwise controlled by foreign governments, their agencies or related entities.