Foreign Investment Reform (Protecting Australia's National Security) Act 2020 (114 of 2020)

Schedule 3   Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets

Part 4   Transitional provisions

20   Transitional registered interest-interest in agricultural land

(1) This item applies to a person if:

(a) at any time before the Register commencement day, any of the following was given to the Commissioner of Taxation by or on behalf of a person:

(i) a notice under section 19 (holdings of agricultural land as at 1 July 2015) of the old Register Act that related to a particular agricultural land interest;

(ii) a notice under section 20 (changes of foreign persons' holdings of agricultural land) of that Act of an event described in section 21, 23 or 25 of that Act that related to a particular agricultural land interest; and

(b) the person did not, at any time before the Register commencement day, give the Commissioner of Taxation a notice under section 20 of that Act of an event described in section 22, 24 or 26 of that Act in relation to the agricultural land interest.

Registered circumstance

(2) If, at the start of the Register commencement day, the person:

(a) is a foreign person; and

(b) holds the agricultural land interest;

then:

(c) a registered circumstance under section 130ZA of the Act is taken to exist in relation to the person (despite subsection 130ZA(5) of the Act); and

(d) to avoid doubt, the registered circumstance may cease in accordance with the Act as if it were a registered circumstance under that section of the Act that exists because the person acquired the agricultural land interest.

Notice that person is no longer a foreign person, or no longer holds interest

(3) If, at the start of the Register commencement day, the person:

(a) is not a foreign person; or

(b) does not hold the agricultural land interest;

then:

(c) the person must give a notice to the Registrar; and

(d) the Act applies to that notice as if it were a register notice; and

(e) if paragraph (a) applies - the registrable event day for the register notice is the Register commencement day; and

(f) if paragraph (b) applies, and paragraph (a) does not apply - the registrable event day for the register notice is the later of:

(i) the Register commencement day; and

(ii) the day the person becomes aware, or ought reasonably to have become aware, that the person does not hold the agricultural land interest.