Foreign investors are welcome in Australia but could face decisions they won't like, senior government figures have warned.
The proposed sale of the massive S Kidman and Co Ltd cattle grounds has sparked debate within the Turnbull government.
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Josh Frydenberg said foreign investment "works for Australia", as many major projects could not have gone ahead without it.
"We absolutely want to invite further foreign investment," he told the National Press Club on Tuesday.
"(But) there will be some decisions ... that foreign investors will not like."
He said decisions would be based on "particular circumstances and facts that cannot be necessarily replicated across many other decisions".
Foreign investment would be crucial to opening up northern Australia as the "food bowl of Asia", the minister said.
The nation's largest private landowner S Kidman and Co is putting foreign investment rules to the test as it seeks to sell a land mass equating to about 1.3 per cent of Australia.
In November, Treasurer Scott Morrison determined the proposed sale of Kidman to foreign investors would be contrary to the national interest and did not authorise the sale to go ahead.
Last week he issued a statement welcoming the decision by Kidman to reopen the sale process to Australian parties.
He said any foreign investor purchase would be examined against its impact on the Australian economy and community, national security, consistency with other government policies including tax, competition and the character of the investor.
Nationals leader and incoming deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said such calls by the treasurer showed the government was taking its foreign investment scrutiny seriously.
"This just goes to show we believe in foreign investment but we want proper oversight," Mr Joyce told reporters in central Queensland.
"We want to make sure the Australian people have absolute confidence we are running the show and that we have control over the show and that is precisely what we are doing."
Greens leader Richard Di Natale told AAP it was an "open question" whether Mr Joyce could continue to advocate for tighter foreign investment controls in his new role.
