Patrick J. Byrne

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Defending Australia’s independence

National AffairsOctober 25, 2008

The centre of economic gravity is shifting from debtor nations of the West to the savings nations of the East. Patrick J. Byrne reports. The National Civic Council has produced an important brochure analysing the historic global power-shift underway from debtor nations of the West to the savings nations of the East. This shift will have major consequences for Australia. The NCC’s Strategic Report, The global power shift: defending Australia’s independence, argues that Australia’s over-dependence on foreign borrowing and direct foreign investment is leaving the nation vulnerable to a new form of strategic dominance. The famous US investor, Warren Buffett,…

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Concerns over Chinese investment in WA mining

National AffairsOctober 11, 2008

The federal government needs to set new rules for Chinese investment in Australia’s resources sector, WA’s premier has warned. Patrick J. Byrne reports. WA’s new Liberal Premier, Colin Barnett, has warned that Australia risks losing control of its economic development unless it sets new rules for investment from China. “Australia could be overwhelmed by the weight of Chinese investment,” Mr Barnett told The Australian (September 30), just prior to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Perth last week. “I am not trying to discourage Chinese investment. Chinese investment is welcome. But I believe Australia as a whole needs…

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DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Small farms offer solution to world food shortages

UncategorizedOctober 11, 2008

The output of small farms per acre is substantially higher than that of large agribusinesses, according to several studies across the world. Patrick J. Byrne reports. As the output of small farms in developing countries is up to 20 times per hectare more than that of larger farms, rallying to the cause of small farmers…

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FOREIGN INVESTMENT: Stronger rules needed on foreign investment

EconomicsSeptember 13, 2008

The Government is finding its foreign investment rules inadequate, given the sudden big jump in foreign investment from China. Patrick J. Byrne reports. While Australia is struggling to find a policy to handle foreign sovereign wealth fund (SWF) investments from countries like China, Germany has acted decisively to restrict SWF investment in local companies. Sovereign wealth funds are government-owned investment companies from countries such as Russia, Singapore, China and the Gulf States. A report by investment house Morgan Stanley estimates that state-owned SWFs already control US$2.5 trillion worldwide, building to $12 trillion by 2015. Australia reviewed its SWF rules late last year. The…

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