Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Amendment (Commercial Land Lease Threshold Test) Regulations 2020 (F2020L01131)

Schedule 1   Amendments

Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulation 2015

3   At the end of section 52

Add:

Interests in commercial land that is not vacant

(3) The following table prescribes a value for the purposes of paragraph 52(3)(b) of the Act for an interest in commercial land that is not vacant.

(4) The conditions in this subsection are met for an interest in the land that is being acquired by a foreign person if:

(a) the interest is an interest as lessee in a lease (the proposed lease ); and

(b) the interest is substantially the same as an interest (the March interest ) held by the foreign person as lessee in a lease over the land immediately before the March announcement; and

(c) none of the following will apply when the proposed lease is entered into:

(i) the land will be leased to the Commonwealth, a State, a Territory or a Commonwealth, State or Territory body, except to one or more bodies covered by subsection (5);

(ii) the land will be fitted out specifically for a business of a kind mentioned in subsection (6);

(iii) the land will be fitted out specifically to store, handle ordispose of biological agents on the List of Security-sensitive Biological Agents (within the meaning of the National Health Security Act 2007);

(iv) an authorisation under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory will allow materials that are regulated under that law to be produced or stored on the land;

(v) a mining operation will operate on the land;

(vi) a stored communication (within the meaning of the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979) will be stored on the land;

(vii) the failure of part of a network unit (within the meaning of the Telecommunications Act 1997) on the land will result in telephony or internet services not being provided on other land;

(viii) servers critical to an ADI (within the meaning of the Banking Act 1959) or a stock exchange in Australia will be located on the land;

(ix) public infrastructure will be located on the land.

Note 1: For paragraph (a), for when an interest in land is an interest as lessee in a lease, see paragraph 12(1)(c) of the Act.

Note 2: The proposed lease may cover less (but not more) land than the lease in existence immediately before the March announcement.

Note 3: Altering or varying the March lease will only be a significant action or notifiable action if the alterations or variations are material (see subsections 15(1) and 25(1) and paragraphs 43(a) and 47(2)(c) of the Act).

(5) This subsection covers a corporate Commonwealth entity (within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013) other than any of the following bodies:

(a) the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation;

(b) Comcare (the body corporate established under section 68 of the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988);

(c) the CSC (short for Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation) within the meaning of the Governance of Australian Government Superannuation Schemes Act 2011;

(d) the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation;

(e) the Reserve Bank of Australia.

(6) For the purpose of subparagraph (4)(c)(ii), the businesses are:

(a) a business of a kind covered by paragraph 22(2)(b) (about sensitive businesses); or

(b) a business of providing storage of bulk data.

Definitions

(7) In this section:

March announcement means 10.30 pm, by legal time in the Australian Capital Territory, on 29 March 2020.