Australian Food-Bowl Dream at Risk as Foreigners Shunned

Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s election pledge to turn Australia’s remote north into a food bowl for Asia has set him on a collision course with his own government over foreign ownership of agricultural land.

Local farmers and officials have warned Abbott’s vision for the sparsely populated region will fail unless he allows greater investment from countries such as China and Indonesia. The government’s decision last week to block a U.S.-led $2 billion purchase of crop handler GrainCorp Ltd. has put a cloud over Abbott’s vow after his Sept. 7 election win that Australia is “open for business.”