[url=http://www.news.com.au/business/foreign-farm-raiders-buy-9bn-of-aussie/story-e6frfm1i-1225953501132#]Foreign land grad on Aussie farms and rural enterprises[/url]
Foreign investors have snapped up tens of billions of dollars of Australia’s prime agricultural land and rural enterprises – and no one is keeping watch.
A swag of government-backed entrepreneurs – mainly from China the Middle East and Singapore – are sizing up potential investments as global powers move to secure food supplies.
Some of Australia’s best known farm brands – including Golden Circle SPC Dairy Farmers CSR Sugar and AWB – have already fallen into foreign hands.
More than $9 billion of prized agricultural assets have been sold to offshore interests in the past two years alone.
And there is more to come – although no one can accurately say how much is for sale. A Chinese delegation led by a senior provincial governor will arrive early next month hoping to acquire farms and agricultural assets.
Millions of dollars are being invested in water licences by American and British investors hoping to exploit a burgeoning $3 billion “market”.
Tasmanian real estate executive Betty Kay said she had five Chinese investors hoping to acquire dairy assets part of the superpower’s plan to provide milk to its growing 1.3 billion population.
Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten has flagged plans to conduct an audit of farm sales and is keen to “further strengthen transparency” of foreign ownership in agriculture. Under the proposal each farm sale to foreign investors would be tracked and details published on a national register to ensure Australia doesn’t run out of viable food-growing land.
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon – who will introduce a private member’s Bill – argues present foreign investment rules are a “joke”.
“No one is even monitoring how much of our farmland we are selling” he said.
The Greens some Liberal MPs and Senator Xenophon want to give the Foreign Investment Review Board the power to block foreign investment in agriculture.
Spanish Ebro Foods is bidding $600 million to acquire SunRice while Singapore-based Wilmar International won a $1.75 billion bid for CSR’s sugar and energy business.
Greens deputy leader Christine Milne is pushing for stricter controls.
“It is now imperative that Australia protects its land and water as part of national sovereignty” she said.