Contrary to popular belief, Britain is the largest foreign rural landowner in Australia.
Britain owns more than half of all Australian rural land in foreign hands, according to a report on the Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land.
The report shows that a total of 13.6 per cent of all Australia's farmland is owned by foreign entities. Of that portion, British investors own 27.5 million hectares, or 59 per cent.
The United States is the second highest country on the register, but is well behind Britain's level of ownership, with 7.7 million hectares, or only 16 per cent. The Netherlands is next, with almost 3 million hectares, or 6 per cent.
Despite growing concerns about the level of China's ownership of agricultural land in Australia, the world's most populous country owns 1.5 million hectares of land, or 0.3 per cent of total agricultural land in Australia.
Executive director of the Australian Farm Institute Mick Keogh told the ABC he was surprised China did not own more Australian agricultural land.
"It may well be that the Chinese interest has been in industries like the dairy industry and farms in southern Australia, and they are smaller acreages but perhaps more productive," he said.
Mr Keogh said the strong British ownership was likely to be a result of Australia's colonial history.
"The major pastoral houses in Australia all had English origins, so I guess what we are seeing is a continuation of that historical link," he said.
The report shows the greatest portion of foreign-owned agricultural land is in Queensland, then the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.
Foreign ownership of Australian agricultural land has long been a contentious subject, and the register is a measure aimed at providing greater transparency. Treasurer Scott Morrison said, "the community must have confidence that this (foreign) investment is in the national interest".
The report was compiled by the Australian Tax Office, with the Register not being made available to the public.
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