Foreign Investment Review Board
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G’day John,
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Since the day I was first elected to the Senate, I’ve been
raising the alarm about foreign ownership. Australia absolutely
needs overseas investment but what gets my goat is when the
Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) signs off on operators who
turn out to be duds. And Tasmania knows this story better than
most.

Back in 2016, a Chinese company purchased Van Dairy, once
Australia’s biggest milk producer. An Australian consortium tried
to keep it in local hands, but FIRB waved the sale through. They
attached “conditions”, invest $100 million, employ locals, fix
the place up, but those conditions weren’t enforceable. So none
of it happened. Instead, under the new owners, Van Dairy became a
magnet for bad headlines: effluent mismanagement, animal cruelty,
and a complete failure to deliver on the promises made.

Now, as I write this, 200 workers and their families in George
Town are staring down the consequences of another bad FIRB call.

I’m talking about Liberty Bell Bay, Australia’s only manganese
smelter. And why does manganese matter? Because you can’t make
Australian steel without it.

In 2020, Sanjeev Gupta, a billionaire from India, bought the
plant. He promised investment, more than 250 jobs, and a
transition to green steel. But this wasn’t the first time we’d
heard those promises. Three years earlier, he bought Whyalla and
said all the same things.

Last year, the federal government had to step in and take over
Whyalla after it was driven into the ground. Now Liberty Bell Bay
is on its last legs too. The government saved Whyalla because it
is one of only two steelworks left in the country. I welcomed
that decision; in fact, I pushed for it. And now the government
needs to do the same for Bell Bay. They must move quickly to
reassure workers and their families that they won’t be abandoned.

FIRB rules have been tightened since these disasters, but it’s
still not enough. Conditions must be enforceable. And Australian
buyers should always be first in line.

I will never stop fighting to keep sovereign assets like Bell Bay
and Whyalla in Australian hands. The world is more unstable than
it has been in decades. It has never been more important for
Australia to be self‑reliant. And if the government is serious
about a future made in Australia, then protecting these skilled
workers and these critical assets is absolutely essential.

Love Jac

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