FOREIGN INVESTMENT NON-REVIEW OF AUSSIE FARMS REQUIRES SERIOUS SCRUTINY

By GPA Chief Executive, Colin Bettles

Recently published news articles have highlighted serious loopholes in Australia’s foreign investment rules on farmland ownership, which need to be rigorously examined, and modernised safeguards implemented, to protect Australia’s food producing sovereignty.  

These reports, by Financial Review Senior Writer Greg Bearup, demonstrate failures in laws which are intended to protect the national interest, by scrutinising farmland acquisitions, by foreign companies. 

A report titled, ‘Mormon church’s $490m spending spree exposes trade deal blind spot’, shows a rapid acceleration in Australian farmland purchases, by Alkira Farms – a subsidiary of US-based global agricultural investment company, Farmland Reserve, which is the investment arm of the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). 

In August 2024, the US owners purchased Worral Creek Aggregation, north of Mungindi in QLD, for $350 million and in March 2025, the North Star Aggregation near Moree NSW for $68 million. In April 2025 they acquired Kentucky Farms (Forbes) for $38 million and then Carnarvon Aggregation (Gunnedah), for another $32 million. 

These articles show the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) did not scrutinise any of these purchases by what’s effectively a powerful multinational corporation backed by significant economic purchasing powers, due to advantages allowed by US-government enabled tax-breaks, for ‘charitable’ purposes. 

US owned companies can currently purchase Australian farmland, valued up to $1.46 billion, due to a FIRB threshold introduced at the time the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) was signed, in 2004. But Bearup’s articles show double standards given other foreign investors are subject to a cumulative total (FIRB threshold) that’s capped at $15 million, when buying Australian farmland. 

In the reports, Shadow Agriculture Minister, David Littleproud, said the half-billion-dollar purchases don’t reflect AUSFTA’s intent. And current rules put Australian farmers at a competitive disadvantage; especially given the US company’s economic muscle, with the tax exemptions afforded by its charitable status. 

In these articles, Grain Producers Australia also called for a rigorous examination of the rules, to better protect the national interest, and safeguard Australian farmland ownership. 

“Colin Bettles, the chief executive of Grain Producers Australia, says this issue should be referred to the parliamentary standing committee on primary industries for review to allow farmers and industry groups to ventilate their concerns.

“It is totally unacceptable that a foreign entity, emboldened by significant tax advantages … should be allowed to accumulate significant volumes of farmland, and cannibalise Australia’s food producing capacity,” Bettles says. 

“This recent acceleration of a foreign entity’s purchasing power in Australia clearly demonstrates there’s an uneven playing field when it comes to retaining ownership of Australian farmland and our farmers should not be disadvantaged by lax rules.” 

GPA will take formal steps to request these FIRB loopholes be examined by the proper authorities in future, which can also make informed recommendations, so the nation’s foreign investment rules are tightened and can’t be exploited, by anti-competitive forces. 

This includes raising the matter at the Agricultural Productivity Roundtable to be held in Brisbane this week, led by Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins, and Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Anthony Chisholm. 

GPA will also advance other priorities at the economic reform forum, including those detailed in GPA’s  2025 Federal Election Policy Priorities HERE which aim to further boost the $27 billion Australian grains industry’s productivity – and shared benefits delivered across the national economy, Australian grains industry, the environment and rural communities.   

Worral Creek Aggregation: $350 million 26,855 hectares HERE 

North Star Aggregation: $68 million 5700 hectares HERE 

Kentucky Farms: $38 million 6020 hectares HERE 

Carnarvon Aggregation: $32 million 2830 hectares HERE 

TOTAL $488 million 41,405 hectares 

Article: Mormon church spends $500m on Australian farms in six months HERE 

Article: Mormon church’s $490m spending spree exposes trade deal blind spot HERE 

This article was first published on Farm Weekly, August 11 2025: HERE