We know that you’re concerned about the future health of our Territory rivers.
We all know that these rivers are special. They are some of the few free-flowing rivers remaining in Australia and the world. Spectacular rivers like the Daly, Roper and Katherine are the Territory's cultural heritage. They underpin livelihoods and lifestyle.
The Territory Rivers: Keep 'Em Flowing campaign was launched on 17 June 2021. Already, the significant, Larrimah Agricultural Precinct water license has been overturned. The review found that the water license was incorrectly approved.
The set-aside water license limits the viability of one of 11 key “resource areas”. These “resource areas” are precious country that big business are eager to monopolise, unsustainably.
Our rivers are under threat from big business! They want to take huge amounts of water, and clear large areas of land. The cotton industry has their eye on the Territory to massively expand operations. The first step in their plan is to build a huge Cotton Gin at Tarwoo Station just north of Katherine.
Take action today. Ensure that this Cotton Gin doesn’t damage our Top End rivers.
If this Cotton Gin is built, it could see large swathes of land cleared for crops, and unsustainable amounts of water taken from our rivers and floodplains. At full operation, the Cotton Gin would need at least 832,000 litres per day of water, just to keep it running.
Even more alarmingly, this huge industrial facility is unlikely to be scrutinised by any government agency. This includes the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority. This Authority is tasked with making sure that our environment and health are protected. In regards to this cotton gin, they are only likely to act if there is community concern.
As a community, we must ACT NOW.
Ask the NT Government to make sure that any new Cotton Gin is properly scrutinised.
We should be able to rely on our government to do the right thing. They need to ensure that thirsty industries like cotton don’t damage our Top End way of life. Cotton has devastated river systems like the Murray-Darling. We don’t want to see the same thing happen to our Territory rivers.
Write to the NT Government today and tell them to do their job.
Together, we can ensure that we keep our Territory Rivers flowing - free, healthy and strong.