MACQUARIE Group is making offers to buy large tracts of farmland in western Victoria.
The move is sparking fears of a resurgence in land sales to tax-advantaged investors operating under managed investment schemes
Sources have confirmed Macquarie has made offers on about 10,000ha of agriculture land in the Hamilton area.
The offers have led to renewed calls for MIS to be scrapped and follows the collapse of MIS companies Great Southern and Timbercorp.
While potential purchases are likely to be planted to bluegums, there has also been speculation that it could be used for carbon sink plantations, or retained as grazing country.
Properties near Nareen, Melville Forrest and Casterton are believed to be in Macquarie's sights.
Despite much speculation that a portion of his large holding north of Hamilton was to be sold to Macquarie, land owner Mark Wootton, of Jigsaw Farms, said "no land has been sold".
"The rumour mill has run rife and there is nothing to it. If we did sell, we'd tell people in an open and transparent way," Mr Wootton said.
A Macquarie spokeswoman would not confirm or deny if the bank had made offers on land in western Victoria, but she said there was ongoing investor interest in forestry.
"Macquarie has seen an increase in the level of investor interest in our forestry investments this year, which we believe is due to our stringent investment approach, including our focus on operations, management and investor protection," she said.
Meanwhile, VFF president Andrew Broad called for MIS to be abolished.
"What happened with companies like Timbercorp should go down in history as one of the most disgraceful acts in Australian corporate history - they accumulated the asset and then offered it in a parcel to foreign investors below market value," Mr Broad said.
