The Australian government has approved the $142 million sale of Rushy Lagoon, Tasmania's largest farming estate, to a UK-owned forestry investor, sparking significant backlash from farmers and state officials.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the Foreign Investment Review Board sanctioned the sale last week, allowing UK forestry investor Gresham House to acquire the 21,744-hectare property. The estate, located in Tasmania's north-east, is larger than several island nations, including Fiji, Vanuatu, and Lebanon.
Gresham House plans to convert a substantial portion of the prime dairy and beef land into pine plantations, with an estimated 12 million radiata pine seedlings to be planted across 9,000 hectares. The timber is intended for local mills to supply Australia's building industry, with harvests expected in approximately 30 years. The company is also exploring tourism opportunities on the property, including accommodation and visitor tours.
The decision has ignited concerns about foreign ownership of Australian farmland. Acting Premier Bridget Archer stated that the process did not pass the "pub test" and that the Tasmanian government holds "serious concerns about the way this process has played out." Archer noted that Rushy Lagoon has been a significant contributor to Tasmania's dairy, beef, and cropping sectors for decades, and its sale will impact local farmers, the North East community, and the state's agricultural capacity.
TasFarmers President Nathan Cox described the outcome as a "betrayal of Tasmanian agriculture" and a breach of the social contract, asserting that the sale prioritizes foreign interests over Australian farmers. He also highlighted the estate's long history of feeding Australian families.
Further scrutiny has arisen regarding Gresham House's potential links to more than $69 million in taxpayer-backed financing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The sale is anticipated to be finalized next month.
This approval occurs as the Albanese government faces separate criticism over housing affordability initiatives, including the use of Mandarin and Arabic in promotional materials for a first-home buyer scheme. Critics argue that these multilingual advertisements, promoting a scheme expanded to include permanent residents, are politically disadvantageous and overlook the struggles of many Australians seeking to enter the housing market.