AUSTRALIA: Milestone in Australia Foreign Investment Ties with New Zealand

Friday March 1 2013

There has been a change to Australia foreign investment rules. The Protocol on Investment for the Australia‑New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement takes effect on 1 March 2013, marking a milestone in the Trans-Tasman relationship.  This is further to the update published on 23 January 2013 regarding New Zealand investors becoming subject to higher notification and approval thresholds for investments in Australia.

From this date, investors from both Australia and New Zealand will benefit from lower compliance costs and greater legal certainty when investing in their Trans-Tasman neighbour.

Australia and New Zealand are close partners, with more than A$100 billion in two-way investment.

The start of the Protocol on Investment coincides with the 30th anniversary year of the CER agreement.

The CER agreement has delivered huge benefits to both countries: trade barriers have been lowered, business costs have come down and jobs have been created.

New Zealand private investors undertaking business acquisitions will now benefit from the higher screening threshold of A$1,078 million (indexed annually), up from A$248 million. In exchange, the screening threshold for Australian private investors in New Zealand is now NZ$477 million (around A$390 million, and indexed annually), up from NZ$100 million (around A$80 million).

The Protocol on Investment will strengthen both our economies by reducing barriers to investment between Australia and New Zealand.

Please see the above link for more details: