China fears may see Australia tighten scrutiny of farm sales

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia could significantly tighten scrutiny of foreign investment in farmlands, over concerns of growing interest from China, if conservative opposition parties win September elections as expected.

An opposition-dominated Senate report on Wednesday called for the threshold for scrutiny of foreign farm purchases to be slashed to A$15 million ($13.87 million) from the current $248 million minimum.