2 September 2024

Pandanus August 2024

Dear friends and supporters,

One thing is clear following the recent Territory election…now, perhaps more than ever, the health of our environment is of grave concern to Territorians.

We’ve seen this in the backlash from Traditional Owners, the public, health professionals and the scientific community to gas expansion in the NT – including fracking and the Middle Arm gas hub, which are a disaster for our groundwater, harbour, health and climate.

We see it in the extraordinary groundswell of support for campaigns such as Save Lee Point (Binybara), Territory Rivers and NT Nature Laws Now. And in the strength of the local environment movement that has been building the past few years and that resulted in the swing towards candidates running on environment and integrity platforms.

Our campaigns, led by you, the community, are growing stronger. All your protests, your signatures, your volunteer hours and your donations have meant that the NT’s environment issues are now playing out on a national stage.

This was evident when the environmental destruction at Lee Point (Binybara) earned the condemnation from people across Australia and the globe, from esteemed ecologists to Jane Goodall. While ABC’s Four Corners episode Water Grab – and subsequent media coverage – which shone a light on the mismanagement of water licenses, weak land-clearing laws and conflicts of interest regarding government decision-makers, reached tens of millions of people around the country, sparking uproar and demands for reform.

This ‘green ripple’, as the media has begun calling it, is also being felt in the chambers of federal parliament, with Marion Scrymgour commenting that “the environment was a major issue” of this election, and, as a result, “we’re looking at what we need to do to address some of these issues federally”.

It’s impossible to know what this next term will bring. But we do know that while Governments come and go, places and community remain. Our work continues unwavering. The Middle Arm Environment Impact Statement will soon be released, where we’ll learn for the first time just how much this horrific project will impact our health, harbour, climate and lifestyle. We’re also amid legal proceedings with Tamboran Resources as we challenge the largest fracking proposal ever approved in the Northern Territory. Then there’s Lee Point (Binybara) to protect, and a healthy future for our rivers, savanna and climate to secure.

All these campaigns are led by Traditional Owners, and it's imperative we continue to support their leadership, and show solidarity when and where we can. There is no environmental justice without First Nations justice.

It goes without saying that we also need your support. Please remain hopeful and ready to stand up for our environment because it needs us and, undoubtedly, we need it.

Kind regards,

Kirsty Howey
ECNT Director
http://www.ecnt.org.au

PS Pandanus is obviously back! We’ve rebranded our newsletter, and while we’re sad to say goodbye to Turtle Times, we’re excited for you to see our regular newsletter grow into a longer form publication, with more analysis and information. Pandanus will be a place where communities can be heard about the issues facing them and our precious nature and climate.

What does a CLP Government mean for the environment?

We congratulate the CLP on their win and hope there are opportunities to work with them to protect our incredible nature and to ensure Territorians can enjoy a safe climate. We will seek to find common ground and build a dialogue with the incoming environment and climate change ministers as we did with the previous government.

That said, it cannot be ignored that the CLP is pushing the same destructive projects that caused condemnation of Territory Labor from so many. Beetaloo fracking, the Middle Arm gas and petrochemical hub, destruction of Lee Point, and mass expansion of the cotton industry are still very much on the agenda.

The CLP performed particularly poorly on our pre-election scorecard on environment policy and integrity. The CLP for the most part did not respond directly to our questions, but there were some glimmers of hope. The CLP did commit to meeting a 43% emissions reduction target by 2030 and net zero by 2050 to bring the NT in line with federal government commitments and committed to no dams on free-flowing rivers in the Northern Territory. We will be sure to hold them to account on these commitments at every opportunity and we will be asking them what their plan is to deliver.

We are extremely concerned by threats by the CLP to cut funding to environmental groups. We know how important nature and climate are to the people of the Northern Territory, and how important it is for the community to have a voice to hold those in power accountable for their actions. Any cutting of funding to environmental groups sends a message that the government does not want scrutiny of its actions, or to listen to the voices of communities. That’s a bad thing for democracy, and society.

So, let’s keep up the scrutiny, keep building our power, and work for a future where the Northern Territory’s nature and climate thrives.

Middle Arm

The Senate Inquiry into the Middle Arm Industrial Precinct handed down its final report last week, issuing a damning indictment of the project, its impacts, and the integrity of its funding. 

The outcomes of the Senate Inquiry are huge win for our community and our collective efforts to bring the serious risks of the Middle Arm gas hub to national attention.

Many of you were among the hundreds of Territorians who gathered in April when the Middle Arm Senate Inquiry convened in Darwin. Together we made a powerful demonstration of our concerns about the project.

Those concerns have been vindicated by many of the recommendations issued by members of the Senate Inquiry. Read some highlights here.

It's now time to turn up the pressure – you can help us by urging the Federal Government to immediately redirect its $1.5 billion funding commitment for the project. 

SEND YOUR LETTER NOW!

Image by: Andrew Quilty/ArchitectureAu

Sustainable House Day and Thermal Comfort Forum

On 16 June COOLmob proudly hosted Sustainable House Day Darwin, an engaging event dedicated to eco-friendly architecture and climate-resilient housing. We facilitated tours of remarkable energy-efficient homes and a thought-provoking Thermal Comfort Forum with contributions from Wilya Janta, esteemed local architects, and experts from CSIRO.

Wilya Janta, an Indigenous Housing Collaboration, presented their pioneering work on designing climate-resilient and culturally safe homes for their community in Tennant Creek. The forum underscored the critical importance of culturally informed design, integrating traditional building techniques with contemporary technologies, and bolstering the resilience of Aboriginal communities in the face of climate change.

Learn more about wilya_janta and how you can support them here.

Thanks to the City of Darwin for sponsoring this beautiful event.

Urgent calls for a Royal Commission

Along with Arid Lands Environment Centre, we are calling on the Federal Government to establish a Royal Commission into water management, deforestation and impacts on the rights of Traditional Owners in the Northern Territory.

The calls follow revelations aired by ABC’s 4 Corners program, Water Grab, into the mismanagement of water licences in the Territory, land-clearing laws riddled with loopholes, and shocking conflicts of interest regarding government decision-makers.

Next month, along with Traditional Owners, we will be travelling to Canberra to meet with key politicians to discuss these issues. As well as Royal Commission, we are advocating for a Commonwealth-funded First Nations-led governance project for the Roper catchment. To follow our progress, keep an eye on our social media.

And in the meantime, freshwater campaigner Aly Valerio continues her work with indigenous rangers and Traditional Owners from the Roper catchment area to ensure their voices are heard.

SIGN OUR PETITION FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION

Did you know?

New polling by The Wilderness Society shows strong community support for NT nature laws. Seventy percent of residents living in Sanderson, Braitling and Fannie Bay support new NT nature laws to give stronger protections to habitat and species threatened with extinction, such as the Gouldian finch and Northern quoll. Two-thirds of residents across all three electorates want to see new laws in the Northern Territory to properly regulate deforestation.

Savanna country

To celebrate the launch of the Summary Report: The State and Future of the Northern Territory’s Savannas, we held an event at the Museum and Art Gallery.

Professor Brett Murphy and Professor John Woinarski (Charles Darwin University) and Professor Euan Ritchie (Deakin University) spoke to a crowd of more than 200 people about the impacts of land clearing on the NT’s savannas.

Senior Wagiman Traditional Owners, Jabul Huddleston and Theresa Banderson contributed a powerful case study to the report on Wagiman perspectives of clearing country and, along with Daphne Huddleston, shared some of their stories at the event.

For Jabul, Theresa and Daphne to take to the stage and speak powerfully like this was an inspiring and brave act of leadership. It was a powerful show of strength that the destruction of Country will not go unnoticed.

We also premiered a film, which we created with Wagiman Traditional Owners, about the land clearing at Claravale Station for cotton. You can view the short film here.

We are so close to 15,000 signatures on the NT Nature Laws petition – help us reach this milestone target so we can show all political parties and independents how important it is to Territorians that our precious nature is protected.

SIGN THE PETITION NOW

From left: Wagiman traditional owners Theresa Banderson, Daphne Huddleston and Jabul Huddleston, and Professor Euan Ritchie, Professor John Woinarski and Professor Brett Murphy.

The importance of academic freedom

Recently we were perturbed by the public suggestion by some that universities should only do research that supports the ambitions of big business. Along with The Wilderness Society and World Wildlife Fund, we have made this public statement.

Our laws prop up Big Business, and fail nature and communities

Professors Brett Murphy, Euan Ritchie and John Woinarski are leading ecologists in Australia whose expertise and opinions should be celebrated by all. Territorians should similarly value the fundamental principle of academic independence and freedom, as essential to a functioning democracy.

As made clear by the professors in their research and public comments, the NT is the only jurisdiction without native vegetation laws, a biodiversity strategy or state of the environment reporting. These are basic safeguards needed to protect nature. The clunky land clearing framework that exists under the Pastoral Land Act (which covers close to half of the NT) is governed by the Pastoral Land Board, promotes excessive deforestation approvals for vast areas of threatened species’ habitat and was never intended to protect biodiversity.

As far as we are aware, no pastoral land clearing permit has undergone an environmental impact assessment under either the NT Environment Protection Act nor the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Our laws and policies are failing the iconic nature of the Northern Territory, and to suggest otherwise is inaccurate and misleading.

The NT Government and big business may wish to back in permissive deforestation, but most Territorians want to adequately protect what is a globally significant, unique and precious national asset – our nature.

SLICK book launch

Join us on 17 October for the launch of Royce Kurmelovs’ new book Slick: Australia’s toxic relationship with big oil.

The Northern Territory is on the front line of gas expansion, we are also first in line to experience the catastrophic effects of climate change.

In Slick, Royce takes a comprehensive look at the Australian petroleum industry, how it has ignored warnings of environmental impacts and strongarmed the Australian government to undermine worldwide efforts to curb catastrophic climate change.

Slick couldn’t have come at a better time and serves as a much-needed jumping off point for the conversation about where to go from here.

Stay tuned for more details of this event.