Australia, with its mineral and agricultural riches, quality higher education sector and strong property market, has been very attractive to China over the past decade. But there are worrying signs that Australia is beginning to put the brakes on this source of foreign investment.
The Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based think tank, found in a poll that 57 per cent of Australians believe that 'the Australian government is allowing too much investment from China'. The institute's executive director, Michael Wesley, said that when it comes to China there is 'almost a subconscious concern ... creeping into the Australian psyche'.
It is reflected on a number of fronts. Last year, Prime Minister Julia Gillard's government slashed the number of foreign students studying in Australian universities. The nations most severely affected by this move, taken to appease voter fears about migration levels, were China and India.
Last week, Senator Bob Brown, the leader of the Australian Greens party, argued that too much of Australian mining revenue was going offshore to the headquarters of foreign-owned companies in places like the US and China. Brown and other politicians are also voicing concern over countries like China buying farms and agribusinesses in Australia. They want to erect barriers to entry for foreign investment in the agricultural sector.
Brown has jumped on the case of a Chinese company, Shenhua Watermark Coal, which is buying up farms in northwestern New South Wales so it can develop a massive coal resource. For Brown, and those who are uneasy about China's role in the Australian economy, this is simply a case of Australian farmers fighting for their way of life against a pillaging Chinese miner.
The Australian nervousness about Chinese investment is reflected at the highest levels of governments. WikiLeaks cables published earlier this year included one that revealed an Australian government foreign investment regulator talking of formulating 'new disincentives for larger-scale Chinese investments'.
