It is hailed as a ‘win’ for Australian farmers.
NFF president Jock Laurie says in April the federation called for a national land register, making compulsory the reporting of any deal in farm land or water (acquisition or transfer of interest) by a foreign person or organisation. The intention is to clarify purchases of land and water and allow monitoring of trends.
“In June the Government responded, stating they would establish a working group to consult on the development of a foreign ownership register – a good first step. Today the Government has responded to the NFF’s calls…, announcing a foreign investment register that provides a more comprehensive picture of the specific size and locations of foreign agricultural landholdings.
“This is welcome news for the Australian agricultural sector, as it means greater transparency around this much-debated issue.”
Foreign investment in agriculture has dominated headlines in Australia following the recent sale of its largest cotton farm to Chinese and Japanese interests. Several Chinese companies are also frontrunners to buy a substantial stake in Tasmania’s corporate dairy farm, The Van Diemens Land Company.
VDL, 98% owned by New Plymouth District Council, announced last year it was looking for a cash injection of at least A$180m to fund dairying expansion, allowing it to build 20 new dairies at Woolnorth each milking 1000 cows, acquire other local dairy farms and double milk production from 70 million litres a year.
Chinese-owned CIC is understood to remain a firm contender to buy the enterprise, along with the A$700m dairy fund set up Macquarie Bank’s agricultural fund, Lawson Dairies. The third bidder is also believed to be foreign-owned, and could include China’s largest dairy operator, the Wahaha group.
Laurie agrees foreign investment has traditionally been positive for Australian agriculture. It is important we do not deter foreign investment, but we want to see greater transparency around investment to clarify the motivations behind such investment.
“We remain concerned about foreign-owned entities purchasing Australian agricultural land for the purposes of securing their own food availability. But before any policy decisions are made… we need to have the national land register in place to understand the current levels of foreign investment in agriculture.
“Having a full understanding of foreign investment is crucial to getting the policy decision right. It’s essential we’re clear on the facts of foreign investment, and we will continue to focus our efforts on building transparency,” says Laurie.
