2016-03-30
Moves by the Federal Government to make private a register of foreign agricultural land ownership has been slammed by the Australian Greens as ‘defeating the purpose of transparency and tougher scrutiny for foreign ownership of Australian farmland’.
Australian Greens Agricultural spokesperson Senator Rachel Siewert said today:
“It is extremely disappointing to see the Coalition government back flipping on legislation passed last year. I must ask – what have they got to hide?
“The Greens campaigned and negotiated on a foreign ownership register for land and water over many years, it is disappointing to that the register will now not published publicly in its entirety.
“Without the register publicly available and transparent, some of the point of the register is lost. This is a big back-flip from Barnaby Joyce and the Coalition Government.
“The Greens will continue to call for a public register of foreign owned Australian farmland so that decisions can be informed.
"Global warming and extreme weather events disrupt food production worldwide, it's critical that we view Australia's agricultural land and water as key national assets.
"There must be transparency and oversight in how Australia manages our land and water”.