The Australian senate has been asked to investigate why local farmers were excluded from buying the forest assets of failed timber company Great Southern.
Federal Liberal mp Dan Tehan has written to senators urging that they look into why most of the 250,000 ha of land formerly managed by Great Southern was sold principally to to an overseas investor, Alberta Investment Management Corp of Canada. He also alleged that the forest went for below the market rate,at A$1650 per ha.
“Australian farmers need to know why the government did nothing after it was asked to at to ensure that they were given a chance to compete for such a vast parcel of prime Australian agricultural land,” he said.
The Great Southern disposal, he added, was one of the biggest forestry sell-offs in Australian history.
