Sure, why not? In the absence of any corroboration at all we'll just accept that journalists (plural) were somehow able to get APA to admit, at a precarious stage of the acquisition process in advance of securing a recommendation for FIRB approval, that they planned to asset strip Qantas and essentially contravene parts of the Deed of Undertaking that underpinned the acquisition; then not only the Treasurer but also the entire membership of the Foreign Investment Review Board chose to ignore that; said journalists (plural) then amazingly either failed to attend the Costello/Vaile press conference on 7 March 2007 at which FIRB approval was announced or remained silent and none of their colleagues even bothered to pursue that line of questioning; and Qantas as we know it was saved only by happenstance. For sure, that was all a thing.
Further, in what's got to be close to a record for the most thread drift in the least posts, we get to the LNP knowing nothing about regulation or trade.
Let's set out on that perilously long and somewhat challenging journey to get back on topic - and the original question of whether FIRB approval for a Chinese investor to acquire Virgin from Bain is likely.
Unless Chairman Dan, of sign me up for CCP Belt and Road Initiative fame, makes it to the Federal Treasury benches the likelihood of that happening is essentially zero. It simply is not going to happen under a Coalition government given the current and foreseeable relationship with China.
Last edited by MickG0105; 10th Jul 2021 at 05:03.
Reason: Tidy up