CEO Robert Walker said the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Resources and Sciences (ABARES) report is a good first step in creating a clearer picture of the degree of foreign ownership of Australian farmland on which to base future policy.

The data shows 12% of Queensland agricultural land is now either part or fully foreign owned.

Mr Walker said AgForce believes foreign investment has, and will continue to be, an essential part of Australian agriculture as it brings much-needed capital and innovation to our farm sector.

“What we are concerned about is the anecdotal evidence that ‘sovereign’ investment - or foreign governments buying Australian farms - is on the rise and the potential impact that has on domestic food security.”

AgForce said it is pushing for greater scrutiny of the ownership structure of overseas companies to ensure foreign governments aren’t secretly bank-rolling the purchases of our farm land.

“That type of investment is targeted at growing food for their needs, not ours and we have to ask if that’s in the national interest, ” Mr Walker.

“We also note with some concern that in dollar terms, mining companies accounted for 60% of the foreign purchases of farmland in Queensland in 2010. A major amount of that land will be taken out of production which further impacts on Australia’s food security.

AgForce said it also wants the investment thresholds that trigger a Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) investigation lowered to a more realistic level.

“FIRB only examines foreign investments over $244 million, allowing any purchases under that level to ‘fly under the radar’.

“We believe the trigger should be in the order of $15 to 25 million, which is three to five times the average Queensland farm value.”

AgForce said it is disappointed the Federal government hasn’t included stronger measures in its response to the ABARES report, and fulfilled its intention to create a national register of foreign purchases.