Edited from Tracy Spicer The Daily Telegraph

November 23, 2009 08:04am

While we've been looking over our shoulders at interlopers on leaky boats, an American conglomerate has bought five of our iconic tourist destinations.

Delaware North now owns three islands in the World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef - Wilson, Lizard and Heron and Kings Canyon Resort in Watarrka National Park, midway between Uluru and Alice Springs.

And the ink is almost dry on the contract to buy El Questro Wilderness Park & Homestead on one million acres in WA's remote Kimberley.

Australia's biggest property trust GPT says it wants to offload the remainder of the Voyages portfolio, including Ayers Rock Resort, Longitude 131 and Brampton Island.

Delaware North has a 20-year history Down Under.  Since the free trade agreement was signed in 2005, the US has been able to invest up to $1 billion at a time without seeking approval.  China has asked for the same deal, during its free trade negotiations.

At the same time, foreign companies are covertly buying up adjacent farms in Australia to use as a "salad bowl" in the case of global food shortages.

Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait want to purchase more than $1 billion worth of our farmland to feed their own people.

Australia is ripe for the picking.  It's difficult to accept the loss of what makes this place special - the coral cays of the Great Barrier Reef; the red rawness of the Kimberley; the land of the Never Never.

Could you imagine the US Government agreeing to such a thing?

The Grand Aussie Canyon.  The Statue of Liberty, holding aloft a meat pie. Snags at the Smithsonian.  It would never happen.

Delaware North says the purchase of its reef and wilderness properties is part of an overt strategy to move into hotels and resorts in Australia. It makes you wonder what's next.