Jim Chalmers faces a mission-critical national security test

The Age

5 hours ago

As the gatekeeper of foreign investment in Australia, all eyes will be on federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers. How he responds to an Abu Dhabi-based, state-controlled consortium putting $30 billion on the table for the oil and gas giant Santos, which holds a big swag of our critical energy infrastructure, will be a defining moment for energy policy.
As tests go, this is a big one.
The timing is far from perfect as the bid for Santos has been lobbed at a time of peak geopolitical uncertainty, thanks to a combination of US President Donald Trump's trade policy upheaval and an escalating war in the Middle East.
Domestic sovereignty is the latest international fashion, so questions will be posed about whether Australia should risk allowing the ownership of significant gas assets to be sold to what is essentially a foreign-government-owned company, and what this means for our energy security.
It is fair to say that had this bid been launched by a Chinese government-sponsored company, it would be rejected. At the other end of the spectrum if, for example, Canadian private interests were the buyers, it would likely be waved through.
It is fair to say that had this bid been launched by a Chinese government-sponsored company it would be rejected.
Government buyers always represent a larger risk, according to MST analyst Saul Kavonic, because commercial disputes can potentially get muddied by diplomacy issues.
While the board of Santos (and many of its shareholders) will greet this offer with open arms, this deal will be fraught with concerns that selling these essential gas-producing, distribution and storage assets to a foreign-government-controlled company is a dangerous move.