Question Time AU

Bill Debate · Second Reading

Clean Energy Finance Corporation Amendment (Protecting Australian Farmland) Bill 2026; Second Reading

House of Representatives · Monday 14 September 2026

Official Hansard for this day (APH) · Read this debate on OpenAustralia

At a glance

The debate concerned a private member's bill intended to prohibit the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from funding foreign entities to purchase Australian farmland. Opposition members argued that government funding of such transactions, specifically citing a transaction in Tasmania, harmed regional communities and food security. They contended that taxpayer money was being used to facilitate the conversion of productive agricultural land into non-productive forestry projects by overseas investors. The speakers emphasized that this policy undermined local economies and contradicted the need to support domestic food production during a cost-of-living crisis.

Summary in reported speech - not a transcript. AI-generated, so check the official record before quoting.

How the debate unfolded

Opened the debate

Dan Tehan (Wannon) (Liberal Party) Liberal

Tehan moved the second reading of the bill, arguing it was necessary to stop government policies from harming rural communities. Tehan cited an incident in Simpson where a German reinsurer purchased farms for carbon credits without community consultation. Tehan also highlighted a transaction in Rushy Lagoon, Tasmania, where the Clean Energy Finance Corporation provided $69 million to help a foreign company buy prime agricultural land. Tehan argued that this financial assistance gave foreign entities an unfair advantage over local farmers and that the corporation should not fund deals that remove land from Australian hands. Tehan claimed that neither the Tasmanian state government nor local farming organisations supported the transaction.