Cattle king’s legacy: Gina Rinehart puts a big chunk of Qld up for sale
Australia’s richest citizen, iron ore billionaire Gina Rinehart, has put three massive south-west Queensland cattle properties on the market.
The Naryilco station is among four properties Hancock is selling
Hancock Agriculture said there had been a redirection of its portfolio as well as within its cattle operation S Kidman and Co.
Together, the three properties cover more than 19,600 square kilometres, greater than the size of Fiji.
The move adds to the big movements at the top end of the agriculture sector in Queensland as a battle is waged between billionaires for control of the state’s other great landholder, AACo.
Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest and British investor Joe Lewis are fighting for control of AACo, with Lewis in a clear lead with just over 50 per cent and Forrest about 18 per cent.
Hancock has listed the Glengyle, Durrie and Naryilco stations in Queensland for sale along with the Brunchilly property in the Northern Territory.
If sold, it would mean the remaining properties under the S Kidman stable would be the Morney Plains and Rockybank stations in Queensland as well as the Helen Springs station in the NT.
Hancock said the retained properties would allow for the continuation of the S Kidman supply chain model, “breeding cattle in the north for backgrounding in the channels and supplementing the channel country breeder herd.
The sale takes advantage of recent rainfall and substantial flooding.
The Glengyle Station, which is situated in the heart of Queensland’s Georgina River channel country, has played an important role in Kidman’s overall cattle flow, linking northern properties with southern markets. It was also the end of the world’s longest mail run, a 2000km round trip.
Glengyle was also home to the heritage listed Kidman’s Tree of Knowledge. An important piece of Kidman history, it was under this large Coolibah tree that Sir Sidney Kidman camped during his first trip through this part of the country.
Durrie Station has been in the S Kidman & Co. portfolio for more than 100 years. The company said the property had some of the best grazing country in the state. The 6600km2 property is used as a bullock depot, running up to 9000 head at any given time.
Numerous improvements have been made to Durrie in recent years including new yards, the construction of ten new dams, and the introduction of solar power.L
Located on the southern end of the channel country in southwest Queensland, the Naryilco Station covered 7510km2 and had a carrying capacity of 12,000 head.
