Finance Minister Simon Birmingham will plead for foreign investors to return to Australia as Chinese investment evaporates and the Morrison government relies on the private sector to fund its net zero plan.
“Australia is a country that has relied throughout our modern history in terms of foreign investment, helping us to be able to achieve the type of economic scale that we have,” Birmingham said. , which called for coal to be “phased down” but did oppose some earlier language on fossil fuels and has been criticised for not increasing its 2030 ambition.“A fundamental consideration in those who had understandable concerns about making the commitment to net zero by 2050 from an Australian perspective were the commitments that were being made elsewhere around the world,” Birmingham said.
The international pitch will aim to turn around a 48 per cent drop in foreign direct investment in 2020. Chinese investment was down 61 per cent in the same period after tensions with Beijing over human rights and COVID-19 saw Australia hit with $20 billion in trade sanctions. China has accused Australia of wanton interference in its internal affairs, economic coercion and hypocrisy over its decision to scupper the foreign investment deals.
“That perhaps has been one of the more disappointing aspects of the stance China has taken over the last couple of years,” said Birmingham. “The unwillingness to engage in dialogue and that, of course, makes it so much harder to be able to move forward in terms of resolving these types of issues.”
ErykBagshaw Is it time People of Australia? I think ItsTime Auspol via australiascreen
ErykBagshaw Is, ‘please invest with us,’ a strategy?
ErykBagshaw Why would any right minded foreign investor put money into climate investment in Aus given the track record of the LNP? There’s too much policy uncertainty and a perception that the Govt is controlled by the fossil fuel lobby. It’d be an uphill struggle all the way.
ErykBagshaw We have $10.3billion we are handing out to overseas fossil fuel companies, would be a smart government that would re-direct that to fund our clean energy ourselves creating jobs and wealth within Australia.
ErykBagshaw Quite a challenge for the Finance Minister when Australia is ranked last. “The pitch to foreign investors at a major Asian investment conference in Singapore on Monday will aim to recast Australia from climate laggard to climate leader.” It’s both a joke and a fraud!
ErykBagshaw well you really couldnt expect australian carbon magnates to invest in their own extinction ,could you ,so its only logical ,but its only open for foreign investors to buy cow fart carbon credit and soil carbon credits to offset continued carbon output at record levels of profits
ErykBagshaw Firstly the government comes up with a nonsense plan for climate change, then nonsense modelling, and now they want foreign investment to pay for it? How incompetent do you have to appear before you get voted out
ErykBagshaw With its own infamous, cunning climate policy, just wishfully daydreaming any decent overseas investment.
ErykBagshaw Birmo
ErykBagshaw There is no target, so no money..