Albanese government failed to act on reforming foreign influence laws: Coalition [Video]

The federal government is yet to honour its own commitment to reform laws that limit foreign governments from meddling with Australian society, almost a year after a review found current legislation had abjectly failed.

The Coalition has criticised Labor’s sluggish response in reforming foreign influence legislation, despite the government promising in June that it would do so.

The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme (FITS), introduced with much fanfare by the Turnbull government in 2018 amid heightened concern about covert activity linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), requires individuals and entities to register activities undertaken in Australia on behalf of a foreign principal for the purpose of political or governmental influence.

The scheme’s latest annual report published in December reveals a drop in registered Chinese companies from 55 in 2022-23 to 37 in 2023-24, after a powerful …