TOP TEN PASTORAL LANDHOLDERS
 
 

	Company/Individual	Country	Million ha.
1.	AMP Stanbroke Pastoral Co.	(Australian)	12.69
2.	S. Kidman & Co.	(Australian)	11.63
3.	Australian Agriculture Co.	(Australian, owned by Elders)	6.51
4.	North Australian Pastoral Co.	(Foster family of Tasmania)	5.71
5.	Hugh MacLachlan	(Cousin of Defence Minister Ian MacLachlan)	5.3
6.	Consolidated Pastoral Co.	(Kerry Packer)	4.83
7.	Heytesbury Pastoral Co.	(Janet Holmes a Court)	3.63
8.	McDonald family	(National Party federal president Don & family)	3.08
9.	Brian Oxenford	(Australian private cattle producer)	2.33
10.	Prudential Pastoral Co.	(UK controlled)	2.0
	FOREIGN OWNED PASTORAL COMPANIES       (Together, land holdings are bigger than Tasmania)
	Ranked by enterprise size	Country	Hectares
1.	National Mutual:AXA	France	806,876
2.	Twynam Pastoral Co.: John Kahlbetzer	Argentina	383,507
3.	Prudential Pastoral Co.	UK	2,016,290
4.	Clyde Agriculture: John Swire & Sons	UK	592,109
5.	Auscott: Boswell Co	USA	21,300
6.	Desa International: DKP Sabah	Malaysia	904,680
7.	Tipperary: Bakire Bros.	Indonesia	1,882,300
8.	Tasman Agriculture	NZ	23,867
9.	Western Development/Carabao: Sultan of Brunei	Brunei	599,100
10.	Raymond St John	USA	375,100
11.	Shipfield Pastoral Co: George Ishiyarna	USA	287,593
12.	Gregory Hadjieleftheriadis	Greece	62,250

 

(sourced from The Australian)

Dear Editor

Other countries are being allowed to use and abuse our land. Why is the government protecting their rights over ours? What legal standing, as mere lease holders, do these people have in our Australian courts? How can they make a native title non claimant application, as a foreign citizen? And what does the tax-payer of this country get out of it? The Australian tax-payer would be far better off co-existing with Aboriginal people as the rightful custodians of the land, as they are the true owners, who never willingly gave the land away. All they could do, was sit back and watch the destruction of their heritage. And how much tax do these foreigners pay, for the merciless exploitation of this country?
When Governor Fitmoy set aside Crown land in 1847, he gave graziers the right to lease land, solely for the use of the grass grazing; and to Aboriginal people for hunting, and the usufructuary right to the 'spontaneous growth of the soil'. Wran, back in 1972, needed a way to put the NSW Land Rights Act (1983) into place, without damaging relationships between white Australian and Aboriginal people, and he left intact the spirit of the legislation, that Governor Fitzroy had put into place in 1847.
So I don't see how the government of today or any other day have the legal right to go over and above a piece of legislation that has worked since 1847.
The pastoralists of today didn't even know that co-existence existed before the Wik decision, and that they were grazing on land that Aboriginal people already had the legislative right to use. So why are they jumping up and down now? It has to be what Noel Pearson said, the Coalition are racist scum because they refuse to recognise Aboriginal rights that have been legislated since 1847.
All they need to do, is to get rid of the Racial Discrimination Act to show their true colours nationally and internationally.
Australian lease holders are squealing now about co-existence with Aboriginal people. Why aren't they complaining about co-existing with foreign lease holders, who are leasing this land for a pittance, and taking billions out of Australia? Only the Nationals and the Liberals would even contemplate sweeping this under the carpet, for their own secret agenda.
And if Aboriginal people get to share the riches that are still left in this country, what is wrong with that? because it's only been 125 years since they took all the riches from the Bundjalung Nation timber, minerals and the sea.
This was done bare-facedly, in this district by successive NSW Crown Land Commissioners Oakes, Fry and MacDonald, from 1839 onwards, using the Border and Native Mounted Police to track down, massacre, poison and murder the rightful owners of the Bundjalung Nation; from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay and inland to Glenn Innes, with the blatant aim of dispersing us from our land, for the benefit of Crown Land leaseholder.
And this is the story for Aboriginal people and leasehold land right across Australia today.
It has been reported that the Wik 10 Point Plan means that the Australian tax-payer will face the hugest compensation bill this country has ever seen. How much, if anything will these foreign interests holding Australian pastoral leases have to kick in, of the compensation bill?
The leasing of vast tracts of Australian land to overseas individuals from France, England, Argentina, Malaysia, Indonesia, NZ, Brunei, the US and Greece, for a start says other countries have power and control over the top native title claims of Australian indigenous people who are citizens of this land.
These foreign lease holders are not even citizens of Australia, but they control pastoral leases of millions of acres. What benefit is it for any Australian for these overseas individuals to fatten cattle in this country and ship them elsewhere?
None of these pastoral leases have been officially or legally explored for their mineral resources.




John Roberts, Elder, Widjabul Tribe,
Bundjalunging