RECENT confirmation of the purchase of more Western Victorian farmland by a subsisidiary of Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is continuing to raise questions regarding her overall strategy in the district.

Valley River Holdings Pty Ltd, the wholly owned Hancock subsidiary company recently purchased 467.15 hectares in three lots for $9,813,419 ($21,007/hectare or $8,501/acre) on the Lavers Hill to Cobden Road between Kennedy’s Creek and Simpson on the northern approaches to the Otway Ranges.