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Shire of Victoria Plains
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The Nationals WA welcome first Foreign Ownership Register report
Member for Moore Shane Love MLA has welcomed the recent release of the Federal Govern-
ment’s first report from the Agriculture Land Register.
The Agriculture Land Register was established by the Federal Government in July 2015 and re-
quires persons with an interest in agricultural land to register their interest, regardless of the value
of the land, through the Australian Taxation Office.
The purpose of the register is to accurately track how much Australian land is owned by foreign
interests, and was driven by The Nationals as an important tool in increasing scrutiny and trans-
parency of investment into Australian agriculture.
Mr Love said that while investment partnerships between foreign investors and Australian land
owners should be encouraged, a strong focus remained on ensuring the Federal Government
was aware of how much agricultural land is foreign owned.
“Foreign investment has been an important foundation of Australia’s agriculture industry and it will
remain necessary to ensuring a viable agricultural sector into the future,” Mr Love said.
“The first report found that foreign investors hold just 13.6 per cent of all Australian agricultural
land, most of which is owned by investors from the United Kingdom.
“This provides a clearer picture of investment in Australian agriculture and will help to clear up
some of the myths around the level of foreign ownership in the sector.”
Western Australia had a lower rate of foreign ownership than the national average, with 10.9 per
cent of agricultural land in foreign hands.
In 2013, The Nationals WA passed a motion at the Party’s Annual State Conference supporting
the establishment of a process to monitor foreign farms and pastoral ownership in Australia, a pol-
icy which was adopted by the Federal Party.
Mr Love said The Nationals WA had recognised the importance of securing inward investment by
delivering its “game changing” WA Open for Business policy earlier this year.
“The $20 million WA Open for Business strategy is aimed at attracting investment into WA’s agri-
food sector and supports the sector as a whole by improving the alignment of the various agen-
cies working to promote WA agribusiness,” Mr Love said.
WA Open for Business was a key election commitment by The Nationals WA and is part of the
$300 million Royalties for Regions-funded Seizing the Opportunity in Agriculture initiative.
Media release