Media Release

Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter’s rage at the Federal Government over the Port of Darwin and Australian asset sales continues today with the first “cold-blooded” move to try and stop the sell-off of Australia – introducing legislation into the Parliament.

Mr Katter today introduced the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Amendment (Strategic Assets) Bill 2015. Where assets are of economic or defensive strategic importance to Australia, the Bill prevents their sale or lease to foreign entities.

The Port of Darwin 99 year lease to Chinese owned Landbridge Group was the catalyst for the Bill’s introduction.

“You can’t get anything out of the Northern half of Australia except out of a foreign Check Point Charlie (Port of Darwin) which can charge you whatever he feels like charging you.

“80 or 90 per cent of our live cattle go through Darwin. We are now in the situation where a foreign corporation can charge us whatever they feel like charging because they own the Port.

“The opinion polls are 70/80% in our favour, but the major parties do not reflect the opinions or the aspirations of the Australian people.

“It is not my aspiration as an Australian, to work in a country owned by foreign landlords where I’ll work as some sort of modern-day serf for whatever amount of money that they feel like paying me”, Mr Katter said.

Mr Katter lamented and reflected on the sell-off of Australian industry to foreign entities.

“Almost all of our dairy factories are gone, 83% of our mineral resources have gone, almost all of our sugar mills have gone, almost all of our food processing in Australia is gone – in fact it is very hard to find anything that we as Australians still own.

“Under the Free Trade Agreements, they can now bring their own people into Australia, and anyone who says they’re working for award wages is telling outrageous lies. “

Mr Katter’s legislation keeps under the ownership and control of the people of Australia assets that are vital for the functioning of the economy and the development of our productive resources, as well as those that are vital to our defensive capabilities.

The bill prevents foreign persons or entities from acquiring a 10 per cent or greater interest in Australian land, water or other assets that are either of “strategic economic importance” or “strategic defensive importance” to Australia. It will include both substantive leases and sales.

The determination of whether an asset is of “strategic economic importance” or “strategic defensive importance” is to be determined by the Foreign Ownership Assessment Board (FOAB), a new Board the composition of which is to be determined by a majority of the Senate.

“I’ll tell you the dictionary meaning of foreign investment. It’s selling your country, its jobs, its people and its resources – so some foreign corporation can own and benefit to the exclusion of Australians,” Mr Katter said.