The day after News Weekly went to press, the federal Treasurer Joe Hockey announced that he would block ADM’s intended purchase of GrainCorp. We nevertheless reproduce the following article online as it raises many important issues concerning foreign investment and the national interest. Treasurer Joe Hockey would be seriously neglecting his responsibilities to the nation if he approved the proposed sale of Australia’s…

Sir, Australia has little left to hold its farming communities together. The takeover of its grain handling by a foreign company will put one more nail in the struggling agricultural industry. GrainCorp is an Australian-owned company. When farmers have issues with its operations and policies, they can call the directors and raise their concerns. If shareholders have serious concerns, they can easily attend…

Sir I read Warren Reed’s Trafalgar Day address (News Weekly, November 23, 2013) with interest. It is a necessary corrective to those who have alleged that early Australia was nothing but a penal hell hole. The late Robert Hughes, for example, in his best-selling book, The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia’s Founding (1987), completely distorted the nature of the settlement at Sydney…

Sir, The recent bushfires in New South Wales have prompted belated regrets there about the failure of the state fire authorities to conduct sufficient fuel-reduction burn-offs beforehand to prevent this catastrophe. In light of this, what steps are being taken to re-introduce cattle-grazing in Victoria’s alpine high country? It was originally banned in 2005 by Victoria’s Steve Bracks Labor government, then briefly re-introduced,…