Since 2006, not a single person has been prosecuted by Australia’s foreign investment watchdog – the FIRB. In the meantime, property prices have almost doubled in the major cities. In recent years, the market is said to be growing at an unsustainable rate of over 10 per cent with analysts warning of a property market bubble that could send Australia’s economy spiralling into waters unchartered since the 1990s.

The toothless FIRB and aggressive foreign interest have been blamed for this unprecedented growth in the property  market which many say are leaving the Australian dream of home-ownership, as just that, a dream.

Treasurer Joe Hockey announced yesterday plans for a raft of new laws which he believes will change all of this. Once in effect, foreigners, both temporary and non-residents, are expected to pay an application fee to the Treasury before being allowed to buy Australian residential property:

"For any foreign investor that wants to buy a residential property under $1 million, there will be a $5,000 application fee," said the Treasurer according to a report on the ABC.

"Over $1 million, it will be $10,000 for every extra million dollars in the purchase price.

"Secondly, there will be a new register set up so that we know how many foreign residential and agricultural property owners are in Australia, who they are, which is a very important form of reassurance to the Australian people.

"And, if anyone does break the law then we can fine them up to 25 per cent of the value of the property as well as forcing them to sell the property."

The ABC reports that Treasurer also said that businesses applying for FIRB approval to buyout Australian companies worth more than $1 billion would face an application fee of $100,000, while other applications to buy businesses would attract a $25,000 fee.

Earlier in the year the Treasure announced measures to control foreign in investment in agricultural land and business. The Treasurer says that the new $55 million screening threshold for agribusiness together with the lower screening threshold for foreign investment in agricultural land of $15 million (cumulative and effective from 1 March 2015) and the foreign ownership register already announced, will ensure foreign investment in agriculture remains in Australia’s national interest.

The proposed fees are set to raise $200million a year. But the FIRB won’t be enforcing this, instead the proposed changes would see the FIRB's real estate enforcement activities shifted to a new specialist unit within the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

The ATO would be enforcing a civil penalty system with a range of fines for those breaching the rules, from $2,040 for those inadvertently failing to seek approval for a purchase who voluntarily turn themselves in, through to 10 per cent of the value of the property for deliberately failing to seek approval.

For those who purchase properties they are not allowed to, the penalty would be up to 25 per cent of the property's value and a forced sale.

The Government also proposed a fine of up to $42,500 for individuals who help a foreign buyer breach the rules, which could catch out people such as real estate agents, conveyancers and local family members who assist unlawful purchases.

Submissions on the proposals are being accepted by Treasury until March 20, after which the Government will make a final decision about which to enact.