SYDNEY: Foreigners who break rules on buying Australian real estate will face up to three years in jail or fines of Aus$127,500 ($100,050) for individuals and Aus$637,500 for companies under tougher rules unveiled Saturday. In announcing the changes, conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott said his government was in favour 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. Foreigners are only allowed to buy new dwellings and are barred from purchasing existing residential property in Australia, but the government argues there has been little enforcement of the rules.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 3rd, 2015.
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