The agricultural land owned by foreigners in Australia has increased by 2.5 million hectares in the past three years, a report of the ATO received by ANTARA here on Wednesday said.
Agricultural lands in Queensland are the most widely owned by companies from abroad, now reaching 17.1 million hectares, followed by the Northern Territory (15.2 million hectares), Western Australia (8.8 million hectares), South Australia (7.2 million hectares), New South Wales (2.4 million hectares), Victoria (607,000 hectares) and Tasmania (342,000 hectares).
The following ten countries have the largest agricultural lands in Australia.
England has 27.5 million hectares (52.7 percent of total foreign ownership or 7.2 percent of Australias total agricultural lands); United States 7.7 million hectares (14.8 percent of total foreign ownership or 2 percent of Australias total agricultural land); The Netherlands 2.98 million hectares; Singapore 1.9 million hectares; China 1.5 million hectares; The Philippines 1.1 million hectares; Switzerland 1.1 million hectares; Jersey 900 thousand hectares; Indonesia 800 thousand hectares; and Japan 700 thousand hectares.
Based on land use, 45.7 million hectares of the land controlled by foreign companies is being used for cultivation of farm animals. The largest land area is located in Queensland, reaching 15.4 million hectares.
The ownership data shows that the UK still dominates agricultural land ownership in Australia, even as the Australian government seems concerned about Chinas plans to buy larger farm lands, a move touted as a threat to Australias national interest.
In April 2016, Finance Minister Scott Morrison had rejected the biggest cow companys sales in Australia, S Kidman and Co., which has assets of 100,000 square kilometers, or about 1.3 percent of the total land area of Australia, to the Chinese consortium.
China is currently fifth as far as foreign ownership is concerned, and owns 1.5 million hectares.
"Foreign investment is an integral part of the Australian economy. It boosts growth, productivity and creates jobs. However, people have to believe that foreign investment is only there when it is in accordance with the national interest," Morrison was quoted as saying by BusinessInsider.com.au.
Meanwhile, the deputy prime minister and leader of the National Party, Barnaby Joyce, welcomed the ATO report citing that "from this year, annual report on land ownership will give us more accurate data as a basis to hold public discussions."(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
