Scott Morrison has ordered the sale of a further 16 Australian residential properties, the owners of which were found to be in breach of the foreign investment rules.
The combined purchase price of the properties is $14m and takes the total price of forced property divestments by foreign buyers to $92m.
The buyers involved in this latest tranche were from a range of countries including Britain, Malaysia, China and Canada.
“The divestments of these 16 properties … are further evidence of the Turnbull government’s commitment to enforcing our rules so that foreign nationals illegally holding Australian property are identified and their illegal holdings relinquished,” Morrison said.
“Foreign investment provides significant benefits for Australia but we must also ensure that such investment benefits all Australians, is in line with our rules and is not contrary to our national interest.
The latest properties were purchased in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, with prices ranging from $200,000 to $2m.
“The foreign investors either purchased established residential property without Foreign Investment Review Board approval, or had approval but their circumstances changed, meaning they were breaking the rules,” Morrison said.
Since 2013, the Coalition government has forced foreign nationals to divest a total of 46 properties, ranging in value from a $97,000 purchase in Tasmania to $39m in Point Piper, Sydney. Of those 46 properties divested so far, the largest number of buyers was from China (19) followed by the UK (six).
A new penalty regime was introduced in December and 179 penalty notices have been issued, totalling more than $900,000.
