There is huge value in having prime agricultural land in Australian ownership, creating premium products true to Tasmania's clean, green and clever brand, writes Jan Cameron
I HAVE publicly stood up and put my money on the table to front a bid by Australian investors to buy our nation's largest and most productive dairy farm, Van Diemen's Land dairy. 
I see VDL as a top shelf acquisition with the potential to be one of the most profitable boutique dairy enterprises in the world.
My bid was launched with the support of six independent cross bench federal parliamentarians including Senator Nick Xenophon, Senator John Maddigan and independent member for Denison Andrew Wilkie, who stood with me to launch savethefarm.com.au.
Each understands the importance and value of having prime agricultural land in Australian hands, creating premium products true to Tasmania's clean, green and clever brand.
They also understand the benefits to the community that comes with having these assets in Australia for jobs, building skills and building community.
I have a deep love of Tasmania, and that is why I choose to live here. The opportunities in this state for investment with a vision to the long-term market for prime products and brands that guarantee world's best practice farming and food quality cannot be overstated.
Through my business career with brands such as Kathmandu, MacPac and Bellamy's Organics I have learnt the most important indicator of success for a business is brand.
A premium brand that people want to be a part of to purchase and to promote is the key to business success. Whenever I have steered away from my gut instinct to put quality and brand first to work on non-premium brand products, things have not worked out well.
Business is a process of learning and improving, and VDL is ripe for the picking and improving. The sale of VDL dairy is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring ownership of this farm home.
It's a chance to create a flagship farming enterprise that can make Tasmania the global dairy brand of choice, which will also show how best practice dairy farming can be profitable and sustainable.
VDL dairy can be the brand of choice for those of us who live and work in Tasmania and for our diary-loving counterparts in Asia, Europe and across the globe.
This is why I am prepared to underwrite a counter bid on commercially similar terms to that put forward by Chinese-owned Moon Lake Investments.
On Friday,   January 15, I instructed KPMG Mergers and Acquisition office in Sydney to act on my behalf to lodge a formal bid for VDL.
Now the ball is in the Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison's court to do as he did with the proposed sale of the iconic Kidman cattle properties and halt the sale, allowing Australian interests to throw their hats in the ring.
Mr Morrison has the chance to open the door to Australian bidders. We can save the farm.
Jan Cameron is a Tasmanian based businesswoman who created successful brands such as Kathmandu outdoor clothing, MacPac and Bellamy's Organic Foods.