Settlement on the group of 10 properties totalling 40,454 hectares came through last week.

Hassad Food Company – Qatar’s premier investor and developer in the agriculture and livestock sector – established Hassad Australia in November 2009 as its first overseas investment.

The company has not disclosed how much the Telopea Downs land is worth.

Hassad Australia chief executive Tom McKeon said Telopea Downs would be an integral property for Hassad Australia’s operations.

“The company will implement significant improvements to infrastructure, land, pasture, cropping and animal management that will see increased productivity across the aggregation that wasn’t previously possible due to availability of capital,” he said.

“The company expects to almost double the number of stock run at the aggregation in the next three years with improvements to farming systems and pastures.

“Cropping will be continued as part of the pasture improvement programs with significant grains production.”

Mr McKeon said the company adopted a ‘buy local’ strategy for production inputs such as fertiliser, fuel and machinery parts.

“Infrastructure investments and other improvements will require contractors and other suppliers, which we will source locally wherever possible,” he said.

“Full-time employment on the aggregation will increase from 10 to 15 plus.”

Victorian Farmers Federation vice president and Murra Warra grower David Jochinke said foreign ownership of Australian land was a talking point for the group.

At its annual meeting last month the VFF passed a resolution that the threshold trigger for the Foreign Investment Review Board to assess the purchase of agricultural land by foreign companies should be reduced to $5 million.

The group also wants the State Government to establish a register of all foreign-owned agricultural land.

“It is only because this purchase has been disclosed that we know anything about it,” Mr Jochinke said.

“I don’t mind if foreign investors are running their operations as an Australian business but if they are exporting produce without it being involved in the Australian industry and not paying taxes on it that is an issue.

“We don’t want to jump at shadows but it is an issue we are concerned about.”