China's ability to gain a foothold in Australian agriculture has been dealt a blow after the government blocked the A$350m potential sale of a cattle station on the grounds it would be contrary to the national interest.
On the block was S Kidman & Co, a family owned operation that controls pastoral leases over 100,000 sq km in the outback - an area three-quarters the size of England - and owns around 185,000 head of cattle, writes Peter Wells in Hong Kong.
Scott Morrison, the federal treasurer, announced this morning that, consistent with a recommendation from the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), the acquisition of the cattle station by foreign investors "would be contrary to the national interest" and that he would not authorise the sale to proceed as "currently proposed."