Foreigners who break rules on buying Australian real estate are to face up to three years in jail or fines of A$127,500 (US$100,100) for individuals, and A$637,500 for companies, under tougher rules unveiled yesterday.
In announcing the changes, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his government was in favor of foreign investment.
“But it does have to be the right foreign investment, in the right things, and we do need to have a foreign investment review system which encourages public confidence that the foreign investment we need really is in Australia’s national interest,” Abbott said.
Photo: Reuters
Foreigners are only allowed to buy new dwellings and are barred from purchasing existing residential property in Australia, but the government says there has been little enforcement of the rules.
Wealthy foreigners, many from China, have been blamed for driving up prices in Australian property markets, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, and placing home ownership out of the reach of many Australians.
Abbott said that under the changes enforcement would be beefed up, while third parties such as real-estate agents who knowingly assisted a foreigner to breach the rules would be fined up to A$42,500 for individuals and A$212,500 for companies.
The changes come after the government earlier this year announced it would introduce fees on all foreign investment applications, starting at A$5,000 for residential properties valued at A$1 million or less.
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said the government was already investigating about 100 cases of illegal purchases, and one divestment order had already been issued on a property that was now in the process of being sold to an Australian.
In March, Australia ordered China’s Evergrande Real Estate Group (恆大地產集團) to sell a Sydney mansion worth A$39 million that regulators said was bought illegally under foreign investment rules.
Hockey said foreign investors who have purchased illegally had a moratorium until Nov. 30 to come forward.
“They will be forced to sell their properties but they will not be subject to criminal prosecution by the Commonwealth government,” Hockey told a press conference with Abbott in Sydney.
“If you do not come to us we will come to you.”
Abbott said the changes were not designed to discourage foreign investment or to depress the property market, but to give people confidence that “locals are getting a fair go” in buying their own homes.
“If you play by the rules, there is no more welcoming place than Australia,” he added.
On Thursday, Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board said in its annual report that China has for the first time overtaken the US as Australia’s largest source of foreign investment, spending A$27.7 billion in 2013-2014 as real-estate purchases more than doubled.
China’s spending in Australia for the year ending June 30 last year far outstripped the A$17.5 billion from the US — which was the biggest investor for more than a decade — and Canada’s A$15.4 billion, the report said. Rounding up the top five foreign investors were Malaysia at A$7.2 billion and Singapore at A$7.1 billion, it said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
GREAT SUCCESS: Republican Senator Todd Young expressed surprise at Trump’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running US lawmakers who helped secure billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic semiconductor manufacturing rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to revoke the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, signaling that any repeal effort in the US Congress would fall short. US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who negotiated the law, on Wednesday said that Trump’s demand would fail, while a top Republican proponent, US Senator Todd Young, expressed surprise at the president’s comments and said he expects the administration to keep the program running. The CHIPS Act is “essential for America leading the world in tech, leading the world in AI [artificial
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS