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Petition Tag - land sale
1. Selling our land is not in our national interest 
We have a “For Sale” Sign on our wealth creating assets (our non renewable energy resources, our farms and our businesses). This means Australia does not get the benefit of these assets as our tax laws favour foreign companies and countries. Our high interest rates are locking Australians out.
We keep no register of the sale of our land or businesses. The FIRB thresholds for land or businesses are $244M for all countries except the USA which is $1001M before Governments count the cost, whereas some of our governments do count if foreign interests buy an apartment in a city. Put simply these high FIRB AUD$ thresholds do not meet the national interest test.
The excuse is we cannot do this because of Free Trade Agreements. FTAs cover the sale of goods and services not the sale of land and businesses.
We are concerned about the sale of our land to foreign countries and companies, especially those countries which do not reciprocate the opportunity. China, the Arab States, India and USA are buying our land for their use. They are also allowed to buy businesses beyond the farm gate which means our farmers are price takers not price makers, and we do not get the full benefit of our exports.
The countries buying our land have long recognised the importance of food security, yet for successive decades our policy decisions have forced our farmers off their land. This is an issue of national importance.
New Zealand recently applied the national interest test to stop the sale of eight dairy farms to the Chinese as the assets would no longer be used in the interests of New Zealand citizens.
We are not saying no to foreign investment, but we do want Australia to have controlling interest in assets which are necessary to Australia's long term security and prosperity. We are concerned how we will pay off our debt if these assets are working for other countries and companies not to the benefit of Australia.
see www.ausbuy.com.au Time to Wake Up Australia for more background information.
2. No to sale of 2 acres of land owned by Wheatland Township
Wheatland Township owns 2 acres of land east of Route 59 on 103rd Street in Naperville, IL. This land with an invested value over $525,000 is being sold at an asking price of $395,000.
Wheatland Township lowered taxes this year, does not need this money and we (taxpayers) do not benefit from the sale of this land.
Stop this sale and encourage the Board to hold on to our asset until a time that money is needed or ALL of our tax dollars can be recovered.
Stubbers Adventure Centre has been operating under charitable status for over 15 years. It supplies a valuable learning resource to local schools and families who would not otherwise have the opportunity of outdoor education in the area.
Stubbers has asked on numerous occasions to be given the opportunity of purchasing the freehold from Havering Council, to ensure the ongoing availability of a proven and much loved resource.
This petition is in place to demonstrate the high regard in which Stubbers is held by the local community and to stress that to sell to the highest bidder regardless of their intentions, threatens the future of Stubbers as an outdoor centre in a world where so many irreplaceable assets have already been irrevocably disposed of.
It is our intention to ensure that Stubbers remains in the hands of Essex Boys and Girls Clubs, run as a not-for-profit outdoor centre and that securing its long term future will lead to long term investment to the benefit of the entire local community.