My feeling was the article was quite informative, however, too much so.

I felt the paragraph outlining the apparent murder-suicide was totally inappropriate considering the context of the article, which was under the label “business” and came complete with a suitably bright photograph of the (no doubt) excited new owner, about to set off on her “dream come true” business venture.

A GROWING number of constituents, both farmers and members of the general public, are concerned at the sale of our agricultural land to foreign countries, companies and individuals.

This concern is building in the community at a time when our politicians are not united on the question so we cannot resolve the matter in a satisfactory way.

There are some in the community who support selling our agricultural land yet they do not specify what the upper limit should be in percentage terms.

Surely they have some considered opinion on what area of land is prudent to retain in Australian ownership. As no register of sales has been set up, we can only work on estimates which vary from eight per cent to 11pc.

What is frightening is the interest in the Kidman Holdings whose sale was refused, however, many sales go through unnoticed.

The Kidman Holdings and other properties are profitable and well-managed, with resources to alter management practices if they wish. If bought by foreign buyers there is no gain for Australia.

China, a large buyer, has already indicated it will transport product direct to China. Australia will lose out on value adding, taxation revenue and employment.

Other countries are already shipping their own live sheep to their homeland.

Consider this: we have what is unfolding as a positive if not certain increase in demand for foods of all kinds. For those of us who are more than half awake this must be the message of the century.

We not only have millions of people needing food but millions of people who can afford western-style food. This opens the door for Australia to value add as this market isn't price sensitive.

So if we own most of the land and the future of the product is reasonably assured, then why sell it? We do not have to apologise for withdrawing our land from sale as there are many examples of other nations that have strict rules of ownership; many of these are our trading partners.

A further complication is that under our present land titles, land purchased by foreigners could be held for decades, even centuries.

Indicators are that food will be the most stable commodity in the future and owning our agricultural land will benefit all Australians.

Australia doesn't need more foreign ownership but we could benefit from controlled foreign investment. Australia should decide what we want developed and invite foreign capital to participate.

We are grateful that Barnaby Joyce was prominent in stopping the sale of the Kidman Holdings, however, we will need the assistance of many more people and political parties to keep Australia's agricultural land majority Australian owned.

What astonishes me is Penny Wong pledging Labor will make it easier for foreigners to purchase our agricultural land for their benefit, not for Australia's.

In a world with a growing population, world nations are now securing their food by purchasing our land. It is time that we considered our own food security and adjusted our laws regarding our land tenure.