By Lynda Kiernan
Malaysia’s state-owned Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) has acquired Carmor Plains – a 41,500 hectare cattle station located in the Northern Territory of Australia, from the Kelman family for $20 million. It is reported that the SEDC will also export 2,500 head of buffalo include in the sale.
The previous owners operated Australia Wild Safari, a safari and hunting operation on the site. The business centered on tourism, catering to foreigners who would pay to shoot buffalo, pigs, and crocodiles, and held a rare license to harvest saltwater crocodiles for their skins and skulls.
This is the second large-scale station transaction in the Northern Territory in recent months, after the state’s 376,000-hectare Kalala Station was sold for $58 million to the Langenhoven family in March of this year. Kalala was the third acquisition by the family in only nine months, having previously purchased the McMinn Station in June of last year, and the Big River Station in December.
This is not the first acquisition in the Northern Territory for the SEDC, an investment unit of Malaysia’s Sarawak state either, which had previously purchased the Rosewood Station in 1982.
Carmor Plains is a Crown Lease on the floodplains east of Darwin. With average annual rainfall of 1,500 millimeters, the land has 24,000 hectares (59,300 acres) of freshwater floodplains reaching the Van Diemen Gulf. Together with its proximity to Port Darwin, the property was sold as being able to support the backgrounding of between 5,000 and 8,000 head of cattle.
It is believed that SEDC will use the station in this capacity to fatten cattle from its Rosewood Station prior to export.
However, many are questioning if the SEDC will be able to make a profit at the price paid for the relatively small station. The last time the property changed hands in 2001, it sold for only $2.8 million. These concerns are not shared by the SEDC. Chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Husain, who said at a recent press conference, “We think Carmor Plains is a fantastic buy for us. Because of that, we’ll be able to expand our operations by increasing the number of breeders at Rosewood and fattening them in Carmor Plains,” and adding that the deal will make the SEDC one of the leading exporters of halal meat to Malaysia.
“We estimate that we can make A$1 million (US$690,000) more this year because we have Carmor, on top of what we have already made in Rosewood. Last year we made A$2.5 million (US$1.73 million) (in profits) from Rosewood.”
“It will be another investment for SEDC because of its accessibility to good feeding grounds for its cattle herds all year round and provide good breeding station for water buffaloes that SEDC exports to Limbang for domestication,” said Husain.
The purchase price has also raised questions from Malaysian pending assemblywoman Violet Yang. The Democratic Action Party official questioned the high price paid for the property, especially because Sarawak is using public funds for the purchase. Inquiring whether either the SEDC or the state government had conducted an impact study in connection with the deal, Yang asked, “What economic, financial benefits with this investment bring to Sarawak and the people?”
Despite the confidence of the SEDC, the group’s track record does give reason for reserve. Between the years 2009 and 2013, the group lost $2.8 million due to low sales and high costs from its cattle properties in Australia, according to a report issued by the Malaysian auditor-general in 2015.
-Lynda Kiernan