Barnaby Joyce has denied he is against foreign investment.
But the federal agriculture minister says the government must be careful when signing deals with foreign countries and companies.
Mr Joyce told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) luncheon in Brisbane on Wednesday he was a victim of "syllogism", meaning people were drawing a wrong conclusion because he did not support a particular example of foreign ownership.
"It goes like this: 'Barnaby doesn't agree with the sale of GrainCorp, GrainCorp is a form of foreign investment, Barnaby doesn't agree with foreign investment'. That's a syllogism," he said.
"I support foreign investment.
"If you have a concern about a particular investment, it doesn't mean you have a concern about all investment."
Mr Joyce said he hoped his speech would finally put debate on his position to bed.
