STOCK & LAND | Labor must rejig trade deal to stop $500m Mormon farm buy-up repeat

Concerns that Australia's free-trade agreement with the United States leaves Australian farmland open for largely unchecked purchases by US entities has prompted for calls to address loopholes.

Stock & Land reported Nationals Leader David Littleproud was calling on Labor to put this issue under the microscope.

Currently the US free trade agreement means purchases under $1.46B do not require approvals, a proviso also applied to New Zealand and Chile purchases,

Grain Producers Australia has recently called for a review of the rules and for the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Primary Industries, or the Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport to hold an inquiry.

GPA Chief Executive Colin Bettles told Stock & Land that questions needed to be asked about the 25-year-old rules, following news that large land purchases had been made in the past 12-18 months by the US Mormon church entity.

"If this farmland was being purchased at the same rapid rate and volume by a company from any other nation, effectively acting as a multinational corporation, with significant purchasing power - thanks to major tax advantages afforded by its country of origin - it'd be front-page news in every national publication," he said.

"If the FIRB national interest test isn't fit-for-purpose, and risks our sovereignty, while putting our farmers at a competitive disadvantage, then it needs to be urgently updated and modernised, before it's too late.

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