Nats deny investment concerns xenophobic

16 Sep 2012, 5:19 pm   -   Source: AAP

Federal Nationals leader Warren Truss has hit back at claims his party's concerns about foreign investment are xenophobic.

Federal National Party leader Warren Truss has hit back at the suggestion by NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell that the Nationals' ongoing concerns about foreign investment are xenophobic.

Mr O'Farrell said he was worried there was "more than a smack of xenophobia" about the approach to Chinese investment in Australia.

"I think Kerry Stokes and James Packer have got it right," the premier told Sky News on Sunday.

"We need to cosy up to the biggest economy in our region, if not in the world. Not to do so will cost us jobs and economic opportunities."

Mr Stokes and Mr Packer argued last week that Australia had to show China a little more love and respect if it wanted to deepen its trade relationship.

Both business leaders fear the relationship is foundering.

But Mr Truss insists the Nationals aren't opposed to foreign investment.

"Nor are there particular countries around that we don't want to have foreign investment from," he told Sky News.

Mr Truss insisted that Australians had the right to know the level of foreign investment.

Any potential sales should also be closely examined to make sure they weren't contrary to the national interest, he said.

The Nationals have demanded that federal Treasurer Wayne Swan explain his decision to approve the sale of Cubbie Station to a Chinese-dominated consortium.

But Mr Truss acknowledged that China was a significant investor that provides substantial and much-needed capital.

"We are going to need a continuing engagement with China," he said on Sunday.

"I have a very high regard for China and our relationship both in an economic sense in trade and increasingly in culture and tourism."

Fellow Queenslander Barnaby Joyce says it's not xenophobic to ask what is in Australia's national interest.

Senator Joyce also took aim at the suggestion by Mr Stokes on Friday that "Australia should have been the Switzerland of our region" and not lectured China on human rights.

You can't have an opt-in, opt-out philosophy, Senator Joyce told reporters in Canberra.

"If you want to be Switzerland that's well and good but there might come a time when you don't want to be a Switzerland, you want to be a strong ally of somebody because you feel your national position is under threat," he said.

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