, Columnist
Investing in Australia? Watch Out for Oligarchs
The Kidman ranch saga shows a pickiness about foreign investment that's more akin to emerging markets.
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There's a well-known order of business for foreigners trying to invest in emerging markets. Before you do anything else, hand a slice of your consortium to a local oligarch who can open doors in government and help soothe nationalist sentiments.
Australia wouldn't normally be included in that basket. The country tends to score highly on the World Bank's ease of doing business index, and has been one of the world's top 10 recipients of foreign direct investment over the past five years. But recent foreign-investment decisions are giving the country an increasingly frontier feel.