In reply to a post by WWWombat:

The advantage is that laying cable in uninhabited desert is cheaper. Fewer people to bother, I guess.
- $18,000 per km in desert
- $38,000 per km in farmland
- $200,000 per km in city

The biggest landlord in Australia is the Department of Lands and Surveys in Perth which owns 211 million hectares

In reference to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_land:

Australia

In Australia, public lands are considered to belong to the Crown. This includes land for nature conservation and various other governmental purposes, as well as vacant land. Public lands comprise around 23% of Australian land, of which the largest single category is vacant land belonging to the Crown, comprising 12.5% of the land.[1]

Crown land is held in the 'right of the Crown' of either an individual State or the Commonwealth of Australia; there is not a single 'Crown' (as a legal governmental entity) in Australia (see The Crown). Various States have adopted differing policies towards the sale and use of their Crown lands; for instance, New South Wales passed a controversial reform in 2005 requiring Crown lands to be rated at market value.[2]

Crown land is used for such things as airports (Commonwealth) and public utilities (usually State).

In Tasmania, the management of Crown land is governed by the Crown Lands Act 1976.

Because the mainland area of the Commonwealth of Australia has not increased since federation, the only crown land held by the Commonwealth government consists of land in the Northern Territory (surrendered by South Australia) the Australian Capital Territory, and small areas acquired for airports or defence. This contrasts with the United States, where the expansion of the country since federation in 1787 means that most of the public land, except for public land in the original 13 states and Texas, is owned by the federal government.