selling the farm

  1. 617 Posts.
    Part of an article I found on the web.
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    MORE than $550 billion worth of Australian companies and real estate has been snapped up by foreigners since the Howard Government was elected.

    Only 2 per cent of the 25,000 deals put up have been knocked back by Treasurer Peter Costello and the Foreign Investment Review Board since 1996.

    On Friday, the last of Australia's biggest mining companies, MIM, fell into foreign hands in a $5 billion takeover by international mining giant Xstrata plc.

    Dick Smith, the man who urged consumers to "buy Australian" now says it is a "waste of time" to halt the march of Australian household names overseas.

    "I don't think there is anything we can do about it," Mr
    Smith said.

    The push to "sell the farm" has seen total foreign investment in Australia grow to almost $1000 billion ($1 trillion) ? almost double the market value of Australia's 500 biggest companies.

    Last financial year, foreign companies bought $49 billion worth of Australian service companies, $14.3 billion worth of real estate and $19.1 billion in mining companies.
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