Originally published by Tallis Miles of The Weekly Times.
06.05.2026
Foreign investment in Australian farmland eclipsed $7bn billion last financial year, buoyed by a 34 per cent increase year-on-year.
The latest quarterly report released by the Foreign Investment Review Board revealed $2.5bn worth of foreign investment into Australian farmland, forestry and fishing was approved in the final three months of the 2024-25 financial year.
In total 46 foreign farmland investment proposals were approved between April and June 2025, with 185 granted across the entire financial year – 38 per cent more than in 2023-24.
Approved foreign farmland investment was $7.1bn for the 2024-25 financial year with $1.1bn approved between January and March, followed by the $2.5bn boom between April and June.
LAWD senior director Danny Thomas said the weak Australian dollar was a “catalyst” for foreign farmland investors last year.
“The Australian dollar was often down in the mid-60c, which presented very good value for money for international investors,” Mr Thomas said.
“The ability to get deals done here, compared to in other jurisdictions was also a factor.”
Mr Thomas said international demand in the rural property market was a variety of existing North American investors competing with increased European and Middle Eastern interest.
“There is a wave of fresh capital, particularly interested in natural capital. We are seeing inquiry from buyers in Germany, Italy and the UK as well as private wealth from family offices in Spain and France,” he said.
Major farmland deals struck in the April to June 2025 window included the $500m acquisition of the Kooba Aggregation by Canadian pension giant, PSP Investments.
The aggregation, located between Griffith and Darlington Point, is a high-value hub for cotton, irrigated row crops, and livestock, supported by massive Murrumbidgee River water entitlements. The deal saw PSP Investments take 100 per cent control of the 31,400ha asset, buying out co-investors Chris Corrigan and David Fitzsimons.
Mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s S.Kidman & Co also splashed more than $105m adding the 5003ha Wirribilla property near Walcha in the New England region and the 7000ha Jindabyne Station near Inverell.
Ms Rinehart owns a 67 per cent stake in S. Kidman & Co, with China’s Shanghai CRED owning the remaining 33 per cent share.
Livestock land dominates foreign ownership, accounting for 87 per cent of foreign-held agricultural land, according to Australian Taxation Office data.
Foreign investment is heavily concentrated in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, with these three states together representing 86 per cent of total hectares of land held with foreign interest in 2025.
