ONE NATION LEADER INSISTS FIRB MUST SUSPEND APPROVALS
MEDIA RELEASE
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has written to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, insisting he immediately suspends sale approvals by the Foreign Investment Review Board and safeguards Australians against a mass foreign buy-up.
The Queensland Senator said, “Australian’s want rapid safeguards put in place to ensure China and other opportunistic countries are prevented from buying up housing stock, prime agricultural land, businesses, and corporations affected by this Chinese virus.”
“Our unemployment numbers are surging, our stocks have been knee-capped, housing prices are set to fall, and our dollar is weakened which places Australia in the most vulnerable position we have seen for a very long time.
“I won’t tolerate China or any other country coming in here and buying Australia up for a song, leaving our people without a say.”
In a speech at the Western Hotel on August 14, 2018, FIRB Chair David Irvine AO stated an estimated total volume of critical infrastructure transactions of more than $40bn had been approved in just three years.
Senator Hanson said, “Between 2007/08 and 2017/18, the Foreign Investment Review Board reviewed almost 12,000 applications and rejected just five.”
“How can the FIRB, which has one permanent employee and a handful of part-time members, give proper consideration to the sale of so many Australian assets? It can’t and therefore they aren’t looking out for the best interest of all Australians and need to be stopped.
“The faith the Liberal and Labor parties have placed in globalisation has been shown up as a failure off the back of this pandemic.
“What’s happening right now in this country and right across the globe should be a wakeup call to all politicians, stop allowing the sell-off of our industries and manufacturing and start investing in ourselves. Water, manufacturing, industry, agriculture, and jobs for Australians.”
