The treasurer, Scott Morrison, will not decide on the proposed sale of Australia’s largest landholder, that would see it majority-owned by a Chinese company, until after the election.
On Wednesday Morrison said he would use the extra time to consider if Australian companies “have had every opportunity” to bid for the company.
Australia’s largest landholder, S Kidman & Co, has agreed to sell the company to China’s Dakang Australia Holdings and the locally listed Australian Rural Capital Ltd for $370.7m.
Under the deal, Dakang Australia plans to acquire 80% of Kidman while ARC would take the remaining 20% stake, subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board.
On Wednesday Morrison said the government had issued an interim order delaying the transaction for 90 days “to consider the national interest implications of this complex and sensitive acquisition”. The delay means the treasurer will decide on the sale just weeks after the anticipated double-dissolution election on 2 July.
Morrison said he had set up an independent and external review of the Kidman sale and tender process “because I want to be absolutely confident when I finally consider this matter that Australians have had every opportunity to be participating in that process”.
“National interest considerations of proposed transactions should not and will not be rushed on an important matter such as this,” he said.
In November, Morrison blocked the sale of S Kidman & Co to foreign investment on national interest grounds. Kidman holds about 1.3% of Australia’s total land area and 2.5% of its agricultural land.
The Nationals senator John Williams told Radio National on Wednesday that his position was that the government should “keep Australia for Australians”.
He said foreign investment was good when it led to investment in assets, production, output and jobs.
“I believe [we need] to have a test: what are you going to grow by foreigners buying this land?”
He said foreign investors tended to buy Australian land and “take the profit overseas, instead of it being spent here in Australia like in rural communities”.
Williams said the treasurer could put conditions on the sale but stopped short of calling on him to impose specific conditions, such as a requirement to reinvest profits in Australia.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the proposed takeover should be considered very carefully by the Foreign Investment Review Board and then the treasurer to ensure it advanced Australia’s national interest.
“Where [foreign investment] is not contrary to national interest, it’s able to proceed,” he said.
Turnbull said people were entitled to the opinion that it was politically expedient to decide on the sale after the election but said: “It’s important foreign investors, upon which we depend on for many jobs in Australia, see Australia as a safe place to invest in and their applications will be considered carefully and methodically.
“We need to ensure we get the balance right ... the focus is on what will contribute to our economic plan to drive jobs and growth.”
