Lyla Lindsey
There is a misconception that the United States owns Australia as a corporation. This is based on the fact that the Australian government is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, this registration is unrelated to the formation of a corporation. Instead, it is a routine process for selling bonds and other financial instruments, and all foreign governments selling bonds and securities in the US market are required to register. The Australian government has clarified that it is not a US corporation, and experts have dismissed the claim as a conspiracy theory.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Is the Australian government privately owned by the US? | No |
| Is the Australian government a US corporation? | No |
| Is Australia a sovereign nation? | Yes |
| Is Australia a corporation? | No |
| Is Australia a corporate state? | Yes |
| Is the US the largest exporter to Australia? | Yes |
| Is Australia the world's largest economy? | No, it's the 13th largest economy |
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What You'll Learn
- The Australian government is not a privately owned US corporation
- The Commonwealth of Australia is registered as a corporation in the US
- Australia is a corporate state
- The US is Australia's largest source of foreign investment
- Australia's government registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission
The Australian government is not a privately owned US corporation
The Australian government is not a privately-owned US corporation. While the Australian government has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), this is a routine process for the purpose of selling bonds and other financial instruments. SEC filings show that the Commonwealth of Australia, via its Washington embassy, has lodged a number of documents with the commission since 2002. For example, in 2006 the government filed a statement with the SEC relating to the issuance of Telstra shares.
The misconception that Australia is a corporation arises from the fact that the Australian government is registered on the United States' SEC. However, this registration is related to an earlier misconception that all of the Queensland government was under the control of the Brigalow Corporation. The Brigalow Corporation was a corporate entity created by the Queensland government in 1992 for the purpose of overseeing the Brigalow Lands Development Scheme. Likewise, Australia registered a corporation with the US SEC for the sole purpose of being able to sell Australian government securities in US markets. All foreign governments that sell bonds and other securities in the US markets are required to register.
The document referenced in the Facebook post is a 2009 filing, which identifies that the Commonwealth of Australia was amending a registration statement under the 1933 Act. The document makes no mention of the government establishing a foreign corporation. The Treasury website lists the document as being released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request seeking access to "all documents that confirm the following: registration with the SEC of the Australian Government (Commonwealth of Australia) as a privately owned American company".
The Australian government has not been registered as a privately owned US corporation. Documents purportedly showing this registration actually represent SEC filings for the purpose of dealing in bonds and other securities. Conspiracy theories that Australia ceased being a sovereign nation following the formation of a "Corporate" entity are baseless. The registration of Australia utilized Form 18, which did not create a corporate entity and thus does not violate Australia's sovereignty.
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The Commonwealth of Australia is registered as a corporation in the US
There is a widespread belief that the Commonwealth of Australia is registered as a corporation in the US. This belief has led to multiple Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, seeking evidence that the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution authorizes the Commonwealth of Australia to become a corporation registered in the US. However, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet did not have the information requested.
The Australian government has indeed registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This registration, however, does not indicate that Australia is a privately owned US corporation or that it has ceased to be a sovereign nation. Instead, it is a routine process for the purpose of dealing in bonds, complying with American regulations to borrow money in America, and selling securities to American citizens.
The registration form used, Form 18, did not create a corporate entity, and thus does not violate Australia's sovereignty. Furthermore, the Australian government has clarified that it is not a US corporation and that the registration with the SEC was specifically for guaranteeing ADI debt securities covered by the Guarantee Scheme for Large Deposits and Wholesale Funding, which ended in 2015.
While some sources claim that Australia is not a corporation but a corporate state, this idea is considered a pseudo-legal theory. The belief that local government in Australia is unconstitutional stems from a misunderstanding of the consequences of two failed referenda in 1974 and 1988 that sought to recognize local government in the Commonwealth Constitution.
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Australia is a corporate state
There is a misconception that Australia is a corporation, arising from the fact that the Australian government is registered with the United States' Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, this registration is unrelated to the formation of a corporation. Instead, it is a routine process for selling bonds and other financial instruments, and all foreign governments selling securities in the US market are required to register.
The belief that Australia is a corporation stems from the idea that Australia ceased to be a sovereign nation after the formation of a "Corporate" entity, which is baseless. The registration of Australia did not create a corporate entity and thus does not violate Australia's sovereignty. US regulations and laws would only apply to operations within the US, and only securities issued in the US would be subject to US regulations.
While it is true that the Commonwealth of Australia has registered with the SEC, this does not make it a privately owned US company. The Treasury website lists the document as being released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, and a spokeswoman for the Treasury has confirmed that "the Australian government is not a US corporation". The document in question relates to the government's 2008 decision to guarantee bank deposits and wholesale funding, and makes no mention of establishing a foreign corporation.
Australia is, however, increasingly becoming a corporate state, with laws that subjugate Australians to an expanding police-state apparatus and elevate the power of corporations above governments. These laws have been likened to fascism, as defined by Mussolini, who said that fascism could also be called corporatism, or the corporate state.
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The US is Australia's largest source of foreign investment
Australia and the United States are trusted trade and investment partners. The United States is Australia's largest economic partner, with two-way trade valued at US$77 billion and an investment relationship valued at US$1.6 trillion. Approximately a quarter of Australia's inward foreign investment is from the United States (US$740 billion or AUD$1.09 trillion). The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) underpins trade between the two countries and has been in effect since 2005. Since AUSFTA, two-way trade has grown by 138%.
US direct investment in Australia is more diverse and more extensive than in any other Indo-Pacific country. US investment in Australia occurs in practically every sector of the country's economy, from aerospace to agriculture. The US has been the largest single foreign direct investor in Australia for many years, and the US now accounts for nearly a quarter of all inbound FDI, totalling $173.5 billion. US companies in Australia have also spent over $1 billion annually on research and development (R&D) since 2009.
The United States' investment in Australia is integral to the country's national development. The US investments in Australia drive liquidity in Australia's economy, and they often include transfers of business strategies, technologies, and resources. For example, Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, has made Australia its largest base outside of the US. With more than 3000 employees across 27 locations throughout Australia, Boeing is engaged in a wide variety of sectors, from manufacturing complex airplane components to supply-chain management and defence platform support.
The Australian government takes a favourable stance towards foreign portfolio investment, with no restrictions on inward flows of debt or equity. Access to foreign capital markets is crucial to the Australian economy, given its relatively small domestic savings. Australian capital markets are generally efficient and able to provide financing options to businesses. While the Australian equity market is one of the largest and most liquid in the world, non-financial firms face a number of barriers in accessing the corporate bond market. Many Australian companies choose to issue debt instruments in the US market.
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Australia's government registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission
There is no evidence that the Australian government is a privately-owned US company. The Australian government has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but this is a routine process for selling bonds and other financial instruments. SEC filings show that the Commonwealth of Australia has lodged several documents with the commission since 2002. For example, in 2006, the government filed a statement with the SEC regarding the issuance of Telstra shares.
The Australian government's registration with the SEC is unrelated to the formation of a corporation. Instead, it is necessary to comply with American regulations to borrow money in America and sell securities to American citizens. A document referenced in a Facebook post from 2009 identifies that the Commonwealth of Australia was amending a registration statement under the 1933 Act. This document relates to the government's 2008 decision to guarantee bank deposits and wholesale funding following the global financial crisis.
The Treasury website lists the document as being released under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request seeking access to "all documents that confirm the following: registration with the SEC of the Australian Government (Commonwealth of Australia) as a privately-owned American company". However, the document contains no reference to establishing a foreign corporation. Professor Sinclair Davidson, an expert in institutional economics from RMIT University in Melbourne, stated that the title of the Treasury web page featuring the FOI request was misleading, as the document did not indicate that the government was a "privately-owned American company".
NSW and Queensland are also registered with the SEC for similar reasons. The claim that the Australian government is a US corporation has been dismissed as a "conspiracy theory".
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Frequently asked questions
No, the Australian government is not a privately-owned US corporation. The Australian government registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to comply with American regulations to borrow money in America and to sell securities to American citizens.
The Australian government has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, this is a routine process for the purpose of selling bonds and other financial instruments unrelated to the formation of a corporation.
No, the United States does not own Australia. However, the two countries have a strong economic relationship, with two-way trade growing by 138% since the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) came into effect in 2005.
