While the government and public are jittery about Chinese state-owned investors buying mines and farms in Australia, Singapore Inc is snapping up shares in strategic industries, from aviation to telecommunications.
It is Australia's fourth-largest foreign investor, behind the US, Britain and Japan, with about $50 billion worth of investments at the end of 2011, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Through its investment arm, Temasek, the Singapore government indirectly has a stake in Australia's second-largest mobile carrier, Optus. And through Temasek's 56 per cent holding in Singapore Airlines, it is about to become a key investor in Virgin Australia. Full story
