Australia blocks China from buying 1% of its landmass on national interest grounds

AustraliaI is keen on keeping their 1% of landmass despite the efforts of China to buy it. The government would like to keep its property even though the private owners want to sell it, citing national interest concerns. 

According to The Street, on Friday, Australia's government rejected a bid for the nation's biggest cattle farm and knocked down the Chinese interest for the land. The government argued that the ruling is a national interest ground and a blow for the owners of S. Kidman. The company announced last month their intention to sell their 11 cattle stations for A$371 million to China-based Dakang Australia and Sydney-listed Australian Rural Capital.

Fortune reported that Kidman was founded in 1899 by cattle king Sydney Kidman. It controls more than 11 million hectares of pastoral leases and owns about 185,000 cattle in Australia. Meanwhile, Australia's treasurer Scott Morrison told Dakang Australia that they are concerned by the 'size and significance' of the purchase that equates to 1% of Australia's land mass.

"I have concerns that the form in which the Kidman portfolio has been offered as a single aggregated asset, has rendered it difficult for Australian bidders to be able to make a competitive bid. The size of the asset makes it difficult for any single Australian group to acquire the entire operation," Morrison stated, as quoted by Zee News .

Also, they added that the A$371 million deal will cover at least close to 75,000 square meters spread across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland, and South Australia.

The rejection is the second one in five months for Australia against China as an earlier $350 million bid with China's Shanghai Pengxin was also blocked by the government due to the same national interest reasons. Their rationale included that the land appeared to be near a government weapon testing site. Meanwhile, China also had a similar blowback with New Zealand last year.

Tags

cattle, China, Australia, Landmass, Sydney Kidman, S. Kidman, Scott Morrison, Dakang australia, Australian Rural Capital

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