Sydney | Reuters — Four of Australia’s wealthiest outback cattle families plan to make the first entirely domestic offer to buy S.Kidman and Co, the country’s largest private landholding, paying more than a rival bid of A$365 million (C$370.1 million), two of the quartet said. Kidman has already accepted a joint offer by Australia’s richest […] Read more
Australian bidders gatecrash deal for country’s biggest landholding
Australia competition watchdog to widen dairy investigation
Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s competition watchdog will launch a broad investigation into the country’s dairy industry, the country’s deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said on Thursday. The investigation comes after Australia’s largest dairy processor Murray Goulburn and New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group in April reduced their farm gate prices, or what they pay farmers […] Read more
Australia’s richest woman buys two cattle stations
Reuters – Australia’s richest woman Gina Rinehart has expanded her cattle business, buying two cattle properties in the country’s north, as the billionaire seeks to profit from Asia’s fast-growing food market. The cattle properties, located southwest of the town of Katherine in the Northern Territory, were bought from one of Indonesia’s largest importers of cattle, Japfa, […] Read more
Australia to defer decision on China land deal
Sydney | Reuters — The Australian government is deferring until after an upcoming federal election a politically sensitive decision on whether to allow the sale of one of the country’s biggest cattle empires, S. Kidman and Co., to a Chinese-led consortium. Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison rejected a previous foreign-led offer for the ranching company — […] Read more
Brewers toast Australian gluten-free barley
Sydney | Reuters — Australian scientists say they have developed the world’s first WHO-approved “gluten-free” barley, a breakthrough for global beer manufacturers. They have had to use alternatives to barley such as rice and sorghum to brew gluten-free beer. Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) said April 8 it had sold 70 tonnes […] Read more
Grain consortium lobbying hard for Australia’s biggest wheat exporter
Sydney/Reuters – A consortium seeking to buy Australia’s biggest wheat exporter, Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH), is stepping up lobbying for its offer amid concerns the deal may be snubbed and reports of a rival Chinese bidder. The Australian Grains Champion (AGC), which includes farmers and some former directors of CBH, wants to acquire and list […] Read more
Australia to hike tax on ‘backpacker’ workers
Sydney | Reuters — Australia is set to increase taxes on foreign travellers who work in the country, raising concerns from farmers that their supply of “backpacker labour” at harvest times may dry up and undermine Australia’s ambitions of being Asia’s delicatessen. Australian fruit exports are set to hit a record A$2.27 billion (C$2.19 billion) […] Read more
GrainCorp to join buyer group for Australian wheat marketer
Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s GrainCorp said Wednesday it was joining a consortium that plans to acquire, then list, Western Australia’s grower-owned Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd (CBH), the country’s largest wheat exporter. The proposal is led by Australian Grains Champion, a Western Australian grower-led initiative. The acquisition would be valued at A$3 billion (C$2.96 billion), […] Read more
Australia set to legalize cultivation of medical cannabis
Sydney | Reuters — Australia is expected to legalize the cultivation of cannabis for medical or scientific purposes with a bill introduced to parliament on Wednesday — the first step toward doctors eventually prescribing it to patients with chronic pain. The bill will see Australia create a national licensing and permit scheme to supply medical […] Read more
Australia blocks foreign firm’s deal for largest farm owner
Sydney | Reuters –– Australia on Thursday blocked the sale of the country’s largest landowner, private farming group S. Kidman and Co., to foreign investors, saying an agricultural area the size of South Korea should remain in Australian hands. Ownership of farmland is a sensitive political issue in Australia amid concerns that foreign buyers are […] Read more
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