A QATARI Government-owned company is
buying up prime agricultural land in
South Australia at well above market
rates and is forcing farmers to sign
confidentiality agreements.
The company is threatening the farmers
with severe consequences if they breach
the agreements.
Hassad Australia last year bought a $9
million cattle property near Bordertown
and is understood to be negotiating with
several farmers on Eyre Peninsula to buy
prime cropping and grazing land. It is
believed the company is also looking at
properties on Yorke Peninsula and in the
Mid North.
In all, Hassad is thought to be looking
at tens of thousands of hectares on Eyre
Peninsula and across the state.
Survey - What do you think of foreign
investment and food security?
The company, which is owned by the
Government of Qatar, is paying up to 40
per cent above the going rate for Eyre
Peninsula land - in some cases, more
than $5000 per hectare.
The secret buy-up has renewed calls for
a public register of foreign land
ownership. Only very large sales are now
disclosed to the public.
Hassad's buy-up has also prompted
concern about the effect on rural
businesses and communities.
Industry insiders said they had heard
that Hassad was "sniffing around" late
last year, but the imminent sales appear
to have gone well under the radar.
The company, which declined an interview
request from The Advertiser, is
demanding farmers sign confidentiality
agreements.
These say breaches of secrecy may cause
irreparable harm to Hassad and cash
would be insufficient compensation.
Hassad has already spent about $500
million buying about 40 farms covering
about 250,000ha of prime agricultural
land across the eastern states and WA.
Sales near the Victoria-SA border were
also above market prices, according to
interstate media reports.
South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon
said the Hassad push into SA
demonstrated the need for reform of
Australia's foreign investment laws.
Private sales worth more than $248
million need to be signed off by the
Foreign Investment Review Board. Because
they are associated with a foreign
government, the Hassad deals will also
need to go to the FIRB - but they do not
need to be disclosed to the public.
Federal and state governments - with the
exception of the Queensland Government -
do not keep a public register of foreign
ownership of agricultural land or other
real estate.
Senator Xenophon has proposed a Bill
that would require any application to
buy Australian agricultural land greater
than 5ha to be listed online and subject
to application to the Treasurer.
He said he did not oppose foreign
investment, but the system needed to be
more transparent.
Senator Xenophon said it was ironic that
foreigners could see the value in
Australia's agricultural land, but local
investors were more wary.
He said there should be incentives for
Australians, perhaps through
superannuation funds, to invest in
agriculture,
"You can't blame the Qataris, the
Saudis, the Chinese and the Americans
for buying up these tracts of
agricultural land because they can see
the long-term strategic benefit of food
security - it's just that we don't get
it," he said.
"These state-backed funds are investing
in Australian agriculture because they
can see that there will be a world food
shortage. We are just selling away the
national interest."
The National Farmers Federation has also
called for more transparency.
"With state-owned enterprises entering
the market, questions have been raised
as to whether this type of investment is
driven by the profitability of the
venture or by sovereign food security
concerns," it says in a recent
submission to the Federal Government.
"This raises the question of
transparency in the supply chain,
potentially jeopardising competition at
the farm gate and having a negative
impact on the local market. At an
extreme level, this could also lead to
Australia's own food security goals
being compromised."
The Federal Government is working on a
national foreign ownership register for
agricultural land, but the design of the
register has not been released.
Submissions on the proposed register
closed on February 1.
Why we must be kept in the loop
FOREIGN investment has always been, and
will remain, vital for the growth of the
Australian economy but it must be
transparent.
A great local example of foreign
investment is the crop of new CBD
apartment developments springing up in
Adelaide, funded by Chinese capital.
Most of these developments are connected
to Chinese Australians with a strong
local connection, who live here, or have
family in the state.
It's the start of a long, and hopefully
prosperous Sino-Australian relationship.
But some other investments are less
obvious, and the reporting requirements
that cover them verge on the bizarre.
Private investment in a business does
not need to be referred to the Foreign
Investment Review Board until it hits
the $248 million level - a pretty high
water mark.
All investments by foreign state-owned
businesses have to be referred to the
FIRB, but the public is not told about
them.
And while the FIRB publishes the amount
of proposed investment in Australia by
various countries or their citizens, it
won't break it down by state, or tell
you what and where those investments
were.
Transparency has a number of benefits.
It allows competing businesses to stay
aware of what's happening in their
marketplace and helps dispel myths such
as the notion Asian investors are buying
up a disproportionate amount of
Australian agricultural land. Foreign
investors should also be asked what
their intentions are for the use of
land.
Hassad Australia is owned by the Hassad
Food Company, whose prime mission is to
provide food security for the small
Middle Eastern nation.
Hassad Australia has made it clear that
it is looking for a commercial outcome
as well as the ability to feed the
Qatari population.
Land banking by well-heeled foreign
sovereign wealth funds, were it to
happen, would be of no benefit to
Australia, and markets such as those for
water rights must be closely monitored.
The real question the debate about
foreign land ownership throws up is
this: "Why aren't Australians more
interested in the land which foreign
investors appear to be lining up to
buy?"
Senator Nick Xenophon has suggested
making investment in agricultural land
easier for the vast amount of
superannuation money in Australia would
be a good start to answering this
conundrum. I'd have to agree.
buying up prime agricultural land in
South Australia at well above market
rates and is forcing farmers to sign
confidentiality agreements.
The company is threatening the farmers
with severe consequences if they breach
the agreements.
Hassad Australia last year bought a $9
million cattle property near Bordertown
and is understood to be negotiating with
several farmers on Eyre Peninsula to buy
prime cropping and grazing land. It is
believed the company is also looking at
properties on Yorke Peninsula and in the
Mid North.
In all, Hassad is thought to be looking
at tens of thousands of hectares on Eyre
Peninsula and across the state.
Survey - What do you think of foreign
investment and food security?
The company, which is owned by the
Government of Qatar, is paying up to 40
per cent above the going rate for Eyre
Peninsula land - in some cases, more
than $5000 per hectare.
The secret buy-up has renewed calls for
a public register of foreign land
ownership. Only very large sales are now
disclosed to the public.
Hassad's buy-up has also prompted
concern about the effect on rural
businesses and communities.
Industry insiders said they had heard
that Hassad was "sniffing around" late
last year, but the imminent sales appear
to have gone well under the radar.
The company, which declined an interview
request from The Advertiser, is
demanding farmers sign confidentiality
agreements.
These say breaches of secrecy may cause
irreparable harm to Hassad and cash
would be insufficient compensation.
Hassad has already spent about $500
million buying about 40 farms covering
about 250,000ha of prime agricultural
land across the eastern states and WA.
Sales near the Victoria-SA border were
also above market prices, according to
interstate media reports.
South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon
said the Hassad push into SA
demonstrated the need for reform of
Australia's foreign investment laws.
Private sales worth more than $248
million need to be signed off by the
Foreign Investment Review Board. Because
they are associated with a foreign
government, the Hassad deals will also
need to go to the FIRB - but they do not
need to be disclosed to the public.
Federal and state governments - with the
exception of the Queensland Government -
do not keep a public register of foreign
ownership of agricultural land or other
real estate.
Senator Xenophon has proposed a Bill
that would require any application to
buy Australian agricultural land greater
than 5ha to be listed online and subject
to application to the Treasurer.
He said he did not oppose foreign
investment, but the system needed to be
more transparent.
Senator Xenophon said it was ironic that
foreigners could see the value in
Australia's agricultural land, but local
investors were more wary.
He said there should be incentives for
Australians, perhaps through
superannuation funds, to invest in
agriculture,
"You can't blame the Qataris, the
Saudis, the Chinese and the Americans
for buying up these tracts of
agricultural land because they can see
the long-term strategic benefit of food
security - it's just that we don't get
it," he said.
"These state-backed funds are investing
in Australian agriculture because they
can see that there will be a world food
shortage. We are just selling away the
national interest."
The National Farmers Federation has also
called for more transparency.
"With state-owned enterprises entering
the market, questions have been raised
as to whether this type of investment is
driven by the profitability of the
venture or by sovereign food security
concerns," it says in a recent
submission to the Federal Government.
"This raises the question of
transparency in the supply chain,
potentially jeopardising competition at
the farm gate and having a negative
impact on the local market. At an
extreme level, this could also lead to
Australia's own food security goals
being compromised."
The Federal Government is working on a
national foreign ownership register for
agricultural land, but the design of the
register has not been released.
Submissions on the proposed register
closed on February 1.
Why we must be kept in the loop
FOREIGN investment has always been, and
will remain, vital for the growth of the
Australian economy but it must be
transparent.
A great local example of foreign
investment is the crop of new CBD
apartment developments springing up in
Adelaide, funded by Chinese capital.
Most of these developments are connected
to Chinese Australians with a strong
local connection, who live here, or have
family in the state.
It's the start of a long, and hopefully
prosperous Sino-Australian relationship.
But some other investments are less
obvious, and the reporting requirements
that cover them verge on the bizarre.
Private investment in a business does
not need to be referred to the Foreign
Investment Review Board until it hits
the $248 million level - a pretty high
water mark.
All investments by foreign state-owned
businesses have to be referred to the
FIRB, but the public is not told about
them.
And while the FIRB publishes the amount
of proposed investment in Australia by
various countries or their citizens, it
won't break it down by state, or tell
you what and where those investments
were.
Transparency has a number of benefits.
It allows competing businesses to stay
aware of what's happening in their
marketplace and helps dispel myths such
as the notion Asian investors are buying
up a disproportionate amount of
Australian agricultural land. Foreign
investors should also be asked what
their intentions are for the use of
land.
Hassad Australia is owned by the Hassad
Food Company, whose prime mission is to
provide food security for the small
Middle Eastern nation.
Hassad Australia has made it clear that
it is looking for a commercial outcome
as well as the ability to feed the
Qatari population.
Land banking by well-heeled foreign
sovereign wealth funds, were it to
happen, would be of no benefit to
Australia, and markets such as those for
water rights must be closely monitored.
The real question the debate about
foreign land ownership throws up is
this: "Why aren't Australians more
interested in the land which foreign
investors appear to be lining up to
buy?"
Senator Nick Xenophon has suggested
making investment in agricultural land
easier for the vast amount of
superannuation money in Australia would
be a good start to answering this
conundrum. I'd have to agree.
Comment