Foreign companies are moving in and Australia’s farmers say they can’t compete against cashed-up corporates and foreign-owned farms for scarce and expensive water. When managed investment schemes buy up farms and then come unstuck the only buyers for such big holdings are foreign owners. Up to 500000ha could be transferred from MISes to foreign owners by the end of next year.
Foreign ownership in the water market is handing the country’s very important natural resource over to foreign interests. Timbercorp was sold last year to Singapore-based Olam and included 40825 million litres of water entitlements. The district was gutted for water with the foreign buyers just paying whatever they had to for the water and locals unable to compete.
Local farmers are worried that cashed-up Singaporians will come into the market and buy what they need. The decisions aren’t being made in Australia for Australian interests and we are selling off our natural resources we are selling off the farm.
Most Australians are unaware of the international rush for good land in the face of looming food shortages globally. There is need for a register of foreign-owned farmland in the context of a national food strategy. “Not just food security but about how we are going to effectively feed the rest of the world.”