Researchers who have been pushing for a more transparent land use data say knowing who owns Australia is essential not only for proper management of our national resources but to understand who we are as a country. Both forces for change in rural Australia – consolidation and fragmentation – are driving up property prices. There is no guarantee that a small family-run enterprise will engage in better land management practices than a large corporation. But, she says, the separation of land ownership from land management seen by some corporate players can be “problematic”. “Even though a company owns the land, the natural resources are generally owned by state governments.

Source: The Guardian May 16, 2021 20:01 UTC