Is China really behind a malicious plot to buy up Australia’s water?
- Fraying diplomatic ties between Canberra and Beijing have led to talk of conspiracy, but China owns just 1.9 per cent of Australia’s water market
- While experts call for more transparency over water ownership, they say it is more important to know how much there is and what it is being used for
In Australia, Earth’s driest inhabited continent, landowning farmers are given water rights that can be traded on a water market, while anyone – including foreign entities – can invest in these entitlements. While the government has a registry of foreign ownership of such rights, details of investments are not made public and reports suggest these investors might not always be robustly scrutinised.
Last month, an updated Register of Foreign Ownership of Water Entitlements report found China to be the largest foreign owner of Australian water entitlements – but ahead of the United States by only a slim margin.
As of June last year, Chinese investors owned 756 gigalitres, or 1.9 per cent, of the water available for sale on the market. The US, the second-largest stakeholder, owned 713 gigalitres, or 1.85 per cent. Australia’s water is 10.5 per cent foreign owned, up from 10.4 per cent in June 2018.
Last year was the country’s hottest and driest year on record. Water costs can generally fluctuate between A$1,000 per million litres during drought and just A$20 per million litres following heavy rains. Water rates vary from state to state – as of May, Western Australia paid the least, with a quarterly bill of A$234, while Tasmanians were charged the most at A$365.
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