It's open slather for land clearing in the Territory - Sign the submission today!

IT'S OPEN SLATHER FOR LAND CLEARING IN THE TERRITORY - SIGN THE SUBMISSION TODAY!

Our 'Nature Territory' is worth protecting.

Unfortunately, Northern Territory land clearing and biodiversity laws aren’t fit for purpose to protect our precious ecosystems, including our savannas and rivers.

The Pastoral Land Board is currently considering 12 pastoral land clearing applications, covering 17,000ha of native vegetation!

The greenhouse gas emissions from clearing 17,000ha of land could be as high as 2.6 million tonnes, equivalent to 13% of the Territory’s annual emissions.

We’re asking you to take urgent action NOW, by making a submission on the latest land clearing application at Scott Creek Station, a pastoral lease located on stunning country in the Daly Basin near where the Flora and Katherine rivers converge.

Take action now and sign the submission on the Scott Creek Station clearing application.

Scott Creek has been subject to extensive clearing in years gone by, including of spectacular riparian vegetation with high biodiversity and cultural value. Now they have plans for a large-scale cotton development of close to 3000ha, and need to clear even more land. This is one of the biggest cotton proposals yet seen in the Northern Territory, and poses significant risks to our landscapes and threatened species such as freshwater sawfish, the Gouldian finch and the partridge pigeon.

The Northern Territory Government’s brand new “streamlined” process for pastoral land clearing has made it very easy for Scott Creek to steamroll ahead with their massive cotton plantation. This new process enables bulldozing and burning of up to 1000ha at a time with slashed approval times (6 months to 6 weeks) and reduced public advertising periods (4 weeks to 2 weeks). This is the second streamlined application on Scott Creek in as many weeks, showing that the new system enables proponents to “stack” applications to avoid public and regulatory scrutiny. It’s not on.

You have 3 days left to act, sign the submission now.

Right now, there is an onslaught of land clearing applications that the Gunner Government are trying to push through before the end of the year.

We must let them know that they cannot sacrifice our savanna. 13% of the Daly Basin is already cleared. There are no caps in place to prevent largescale clearing of this bioregion, with likely irreversible impacts, including on the magnificent free-flowing Daly River and its tributaries.

Submissions on the Scott Creek Station clearing application close on 19 November 2021.

Sign the submission to the Pastoral Land Board telling them to reject the application or immediately refer it for assessment under Northern Territory and Commonwealth environmental laws.

Dear Pastoral Land Board,
I am writing to urgently request that you reject the application by Cross Pacific Investments Pty Ltd. to clear 562 hectares of native vegetation at Scott Creek Station.
I submit that it is totally inappropriate that this application be assessed under the Gunner Government’s “Simplified Pastoral Land Clearing guidelines”. This is not a simple application, but one which risks significant impacts on biodiversity at a landscape scale when considered cumulatively with the other components of the proponent’s development.  It should be rejected, and the project as a whole immediately referred for assessment under the Environment Protection Act NT and Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (Cth) as it clearly meets the threshold of having the potential to have a significant impact on the environment and a number of matters of national environmental significance.
I submit the following:
<ol>
<li>Two applications in the same area have been stacked in as many weeks. The current application seeks to clear 562 ha of vegetation.  However, the  Proponent has also very recently submitted application PL2021/0006 to clear 884 hectares of “new” native vegetation, and “reclear” 633 hectares of native vegetation. In addition, the proponent has an adjacent non pastoral use permit NPU17/1-A, comprising 890.68ha of land cleared alongside Scott Creek (leaving little riparian vegetation which would act as a biodiversity refuge, wildlife corridor, and barrier to sediment and chemical run-off). This brings the Proponent’s entire development to 2970 hectares. Taken cumulatively, this is an extremely large cotton development that may have significant environmental impacts.</li>
<li>There are 18 listed threatened species that may be impacted by the proposed development, including the northern brushtail possum, the northern quoll, the Gouldian Finch, the partridge pigeon and the freshwater sawfish.  The Department’s own research indicates that clearing over 1500ha within a 3000ha area may have significant impacts on biodiversity and make some populations unsustainable at a landscape scale. This is undoubtedly a significant impact. Only cursory analysis is given of the biodiversity impacts of the proposal at a landscape and regional scale.</li>
<li>Despite the considerable quantity of greenhouse gas emissions from the project this impact is not mentioned, nor are any offsets proposed to mitigate these emissions. This is unacceptable at a time when the NT Government needs to be reducing emissions to play its part in addressing climate change. The total emissions produced from land clearing applications currently being assessed by the Pastoral Land Board is equivalent to 13% of  the NT's annual greenhouse gas emissions. To fast track land clearing is inconsistent with the NT Government’s greenhouse gas emissions target of net zero emissions by 2050.</li>
<li>There is inadequate explanation of the likely impacts on sediment run-off, erosion, dust and soil quality in the application.  The tillage of Scott Creek Station will significantly increase the risk of soil degradation, erosion and dust, particularly in years when it is not possible to plant crops due to low rainfall. There is the potential for contamination of soils from chemicals and fertilisers applied on the area, as well as changes to soil structure.</li>
<li>There are likely to be sacred sites in the vicinity of the Application area. A registry extract is manifestly inadequate to protect these, and any other sites that may exist in the area. An authority certificate granted under the Northern Territory Sacred Sites Act 1989 (NT) should be a mandatory requirement.</li>
</ol>
I am extremely concerned that 13% of the Daly catchment is already cleared, and there are no caps in place to prevent largescale devastation of this highly valued region, with irreversible impacts, including on the magnificent free-flowing Daly River. The “simplified guidelines” are a huge step backwards for protection of our savannas and rivers, and are likely to be inconsistent with the requirements of both Northern Territory and Commonwealth environmental legislation.
The Application should:
(a) be rejected and resubmitted as a standard application; and
(b) be referred for assessment under both the Environment Protection Act NT and EPBC Act.

IT'S OPEN SLATHER FOR LAND CLEARING IN THE TERRITORY - SIGN THE SUBMISSION TODAY!

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