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MELBOURNE: Concerns are growing in rural areas of Australia as foreign government-backed entities buy up significant parcels of agricultural land.
More than A$9 billion (RM27.75 billion) of prized agricultural assets have been sold to offshore interests in the past two years alone, said The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Nov 15.
Nations leading the charge are predominantly Asian, including China, and Middle East.
Along with land, the United States and Britain are moving into the domestic water market at a time of heightened tension over control of the vital asset.
National Party MP Mark Coulton, who represents the New South Wales (NSW) rural and regional electorate of Parkes, said there was concern that some key properties in western NSW were falling into foreign hands.
"Agricultural land in Australia is relatively cheap," he told reporters on Monday.
Foreign companies have longed played a major role in the Australian agriculture sector but increasingly those companies and governments have been moving to acquire land as well as businesses.
Farmers also face a fight on another front as mining companies press their claims to arable land.
Earlier this year a Senate committee recommended an audit be undertaken to establish the extent of foreign ownership of commercial agricultural and pastoral land, and ownership of water in Australia, the Australian Associated Press reported.
The committee wanted a particular emphasis on ownership by sovereign and part-sovereign owned companies. — Bernama
More than A$9 billion (RM27.75 billion) of prized agricultural assets have been sold to offshore interests in the past two years alone, said The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Nov 15.
Nations leading the charge are predominantly Asian, including China, and Middle East.
Along with land, the United States and Britain are moving into the domestic water market at a time of heightened tension over control of the vital asset.
National Party MP Mark Coulton, who represents the New South Wales (NSW) rural and regional electorate of Parkes, said there was concern that some key properties in western NSW were falling into foreign hands.
"Agricultural land in Australia is relatively cheap," he told reporters on Monday.
Foreign companies have longed played a major role in the Australian agriculture sector but increasingly those companies and governments have been moving to acquire land as well as businesses.
Farmers also face a fight on another front as mining companies press their claims to arable land.
Earlier this year a Senate committee recommended an audit be undertaken to establish the extent of foreign ownership of commercial agricultural and pastoral land, and ownership of water in Australia, the Australian Associated Press reported.
The committee wanted a particular emphasis on ownership by sovereign and part-sovereign owned companies. — Bernama
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