THIS week’s property review includes this wrap-up of recently completed sales, and a separate article on interesting recent listings across the country.
- Katherine’s King River Station makes $8.75m
- Neighbour expands in NSW’s far north west
- NSW Government offloads Nulla Nulla and Noola Stations
- … and purchases Narriearra for conservation
- South west Queensland’s Nungil makes $3.3m
- Willatons sell one of their Maranoa properties
Katherine’s King River makes $8.75m
A local producer has paid $8.75 million bare ($206/ha) for King River Station, located 40km south of Katherine in the Northern Territory.
The 42,400ha breeder block comfortably runs 2500 breeding cows or 5000 young cattle and has year-round road-train access, enabling the owner to take full advantage of wet season prices for live export.
New owners are the Niceforo family, which has had business interests in Katherine and the surrounding region for decades.
Water is supplied by permanent waterholes in the King River, which traverses the property, eight bores and 12 tanks.
Improvements include two sets steel cattle yards, a homestead and machinery sheds.
With adjoining properties cleared and planted to a range of hay crops, as well as tropical timbers, it was suggested the incoming owner might be interested in using the country for mixed or intensive farming.
However, the successful purchaser already owns a larger cattle operation and has purchased King River as an expansion opportunity for livestock production.
A local producer has paid $8.75 million bare for King River Station, located 40km south of Katherine in the Northern Territory.
Neighbour expands in NSW’s far northwest
A neighbour has purchased Tibooburra’s 55,878ha Whyjonta Station, in the tightly held corner country of New South Wales’ far north west for around the $5 million asking price.
Located 395km north of Broken Hill and 372km northwest of Bourke, the country is productive and fertile saline country featuring flat open Mitchell grass plains to undulating rises of sandy loam, scattered mulga, coolabah and acacia.
In season, the alluvial grey soil flood-out country is fed by numerous creek systems to the west and north west.
Whyjonta is also watered by 70km of poly pipe, 37 watering points, 40 troughs, 15 earth dams and a number of bores.
For the past 15 years, Steve and Jan Molloy have run 800 to 900 commercial Droughtmaster cross breeders, running the progeny through to 300kg.
They also sell around 1000 head of bush goats per annum and when the season prevails, take on large numbers of agistment cattle.
Whyjonta was offered to the market on a WIWO basis, with an extensive list of station plant and machinery, by David Russell from Landmark Russell Cobar.
NSW Government offloads Nulla Nulla and Noola Stations
After 13 years ownership, the New South Wales state government’s grazing aggregation Nulla Nulla and Noola Stations have been sold to a prominent local producer.
The adjoining holdings, spanning 50,700ha, are situated in the state’s far south west, 95km northwest of Mildura and 90km east of the Riverland town of Renmark.
Both stations have had a long history of breeding and grazing sheep for wool and lamb production, as well as cattle, but would also complement goats.
The 42,841ha Nulla Nulla and 7859ha Noola boast flat to gently undulating country, with a well-balanced mix of edible native herbage, grasses (in season) and forage shrubs.
When the assets were purchased by the NSW government in 2007, the properties were destocked, and the boundaries realigned so the new owners would not have absolute frontage to Lake Victoria, due to cultural and environmental importance.
For that reason, the condition of the bush and timbered country has benefitted from not operating as a commercial grazing property.
Michael Fernandez from Landmark Harcourts who handled the expressions of interest campaign was unable to disclose the price paid or the purchaser.
After 13 years ownership, the NSW state government’s western grazing aggregation Nulla Nulla and Noola Stations have been sold to a prominent local producer.
… and purchases Narriearra for conservation
In the meantime, the NSW Government has purchased the 153,415ha Narriearra Station in the state’s far north-west to create a new national park.
The acquisition (for an undisclosed sum) is the largest single land purchase of private land for conservation in the state’s history, and is being heralded as a significant win for threatened species and habitats.
Minister for the environment, Matt Kean, said Narriearra, which stretches across outback channel country and parts of the floodplain of the Bulloo River, includes wetlands listed as nationally significant and is home to at least 27 threatened species.
The property was held by the O’Connor family for more than a century. In 1860, it was traversed by explorers Burke and Wills, with an engraved post marking one of the ill-fated expedition’s two camp sites.
The NSW Government has purchased the 153,415ha Narriearra Station in the state’s far north-west to create a new national park.
South west Queensland’s Nungil makes $3.3m
Charleville producers Cameron and Jacqui Tickell from Combanning have paid $3.3 million ($227/ha) bare for the Langlo River breeding, backgrounding and fattening property Nungil in Queensland’s south west.
Located 127km north west of Charleville and 142km south of Tambo, Nungil spans 14,524ha of flat to gently undulating country that runs 800 breeders with progeny to weaning age.
There is about 2225ha of low edible mulga (with a good area of standing mulga reserves) and 405ha of highly productive flooded lake country.
The Langlo River, which fronts the western boundary of the property, has two permanent and seasonal waterholes.
There are also four sub-artesian bores, as well as 31km of new boundary fencing and 30km of new internal fences.
Keith Richardson from Elders Real Estate handled the sale.
Charleville producers Cameron and Jacqui Tickell from Combanning have paid $3.3 million bare for the Langlo River breeding, backgrounding and fattening property Nungil in Queensland’s south west.
Willatons sell one of their Maranoa properties
After 17 years, Dean and Theresa Willaton, Bangor Cattle Co, have sold one of their two Maranoa properties in southern Queensland.
The 2070ha block, Bangor South, was sold via online auction through Colliers International to a producer from Central Queensland for $2.6 million or $1256/ha.
Situated 15km north of Mungallala at the headwaters of the Mungallala Creek, the country features bottle trees and buffel and an excellent body of feed following recent rainfall.
The property has an exclusion fence around part of the property, with the northern boundary fenced by the wild dog barrier fence.
The central yards sit alongside a significant dam that is equipped to extract water to a 450,000 litre ring tank that gravity-feeds to various water points across the property.
The couple’s second property, Tomoo, has been listed privately for $10m, after failing to sell at auction. Click here to view earlier report
The 2070ha Bangor South was sold via online auction through Colliers International to a producer from Central Queensland for $2.6 million or $1256/ha.
Click here to access more property sales results
Using the fashionable ‘stakeholders’ describes those who fiancé governments and politicians during and after their ‘service to the community’. During that service Noola and Nulla Nulla stations were bought using stakeholder funds. The public surely has at least as much right to know the purchasers, whether Australians or aliens and the price and conditions in contract. The onerous and profoundly invasive questionnaires by the likes of the ATO and Centrelink compared with agent refusal to give the public details of what their investment brought, via the crown, and the accounting of outgoings during the holding of the property adds to the suspicion of “what are they really up-to”. Protesting China whilst selling the country and substantial shipping and air to it, secretly dealing with it in allowing a building frenzy by China in “Australian Territory” (so called) over mining Antarctica. The Kabal should be forced to tell us, their stakeholders, what it is ‘up-to’.