Foreign investment application approvals will be accelerated under new federal government plans to lure overseas capital that would be used to help build critical renewable energy infrastructure and support build-to-rent housing projects.
Crucially for a labour-strapped agriculture sector the reforms have also clarified that approved employers under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme can buy established residential properties for their PALM employees.
Under the proposals to be unveiled by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in a speech on Wednesday, institutional investors with a proven track record, such as Canadian pension funds, will be fast-tracked for 30-day approvals from next January.
On the other hand, those deemed to be a higher-risk to national security will be more heavily scrutinised, particularly when seeking to invest in critical mineral, technology and infrastructure projects and those near Defence sites, "to ensure all risks are identified, understood and can be managed".
Funding for the measures, being pitched as crucial to providing businesses and investors greater certainty and clarity around sensitive sectors and assets, will be set aside in the forthcoming Budget.
They are also an essential element of the government's Future Made In Australia Act that will bet taxpayer dollars on initiatives to kick start investments in clean energy and clean technology manufacturing.
It is a direct response to the US Inflation Reduction Act and will bundle new and existing green and other manufacturing initiatives into an omnibus legislation, including the $15b National Reconstruction Fund that was introduced in 2022.
Direct and portfolio foreign investment in Australia's economy were worth about $3.5 trillion in 2023.
In today's speech, Mr Chalmers will say the changes will help attract foreign money to "maximise our advantages in the interests of middle Australia" as the nation faces much different obstacles than what existed in previous decades.
"This is all about boosting and bolstering our economic security and attracting the investment we need in our economy. Foreign investment has a key role to play in our economy but only if it's in our national interest," he will say.
"National security threats are increasing due to intensifying geopolitical competition and risks to Australia's national interests from foreign investment have evolved at the same time as competition for global capital is becoming more intense.
"Our reforms will make Australia a more attractive place to invest, boost economic prosperity and productivity, while strengthening our ability to protect the national interest in an increasingly complex economic and geostrategic environment."
Mr Chalmers said in response to a question on ABC-TV on Tuesday night that the tighter measures were not designed to reduce Chinese investment in Australia.
"The tests that we apply are who's making the investment. So, state-owned enterprises obviously attract a different level of scrutiny, how they're making that investment, the structure of the deal and in what industries they're investing in," he said.
"And those tests apply across the board, whether it's China or Singapore or Canada or other places where we get a lot of interest, a lot of foreign investment."
Farmers have called on Labor to increase domestic food processing and help firm up local suppliers of critical farm inputs as part of a "Future Made in Australia" Act.
The National Rural Health Alliance and Regional Australia Institute added that regional Australia could only be the renewable engine room with supercharged investment and better long-range planning to address lagging infrastructure and essential services in the bush.
