AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW | Chalmers open to trade deal review after Mormons' $490m spending spree

Prompted by recent reports that the US-based Mormon Church has purchased around $490 million in Australian farmland in the past 12 months, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has indicated support to review rules.

Australia's free trade agreement with the US allows US entities to make land purchases of up to $1.46 billion without needing approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board.

The Australian Financial Review reported that Colin Bettles, the chief executive of Grain Producers Australia, said it was clearly a “loophole” that needed to be fixed.

Littleproud said the treasurer would need to examine the free trade agreement, and that it was not a matter of bolstering FIRB rules because “these purchases remain outside FIRB scrutiny”.

Bettles said he welcomed Chalmers’ acknowledgement “that this was a serious issue” and that there was a pressing need to examine “the overall” issue of foreign ownership of farmland.

Read more