The federal government is investigating potentially illegal land clearing in the Northern Territory, where satellite imagery obtained by ABC suggests swathes of unique savannah have been cleared to make way for a cotton industry.
Key points:
- Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says reports of extensive clearing of land for cotton in the NT “are very worrying”
- A study has found that cotton uses a lot of land, water and machinery, but creates very few jobs
- The researcher says that subsidizing the industry with free water is bad economics and bad environmental policy.
Officials declined to say when the investigation was first launched, but the investigation was confirmed following an investigation by ABC’s 7.30 this week.
A spokesman for the federal environmental department said it was working with the NT government “to determine if [land clearing] activities comply with the Law for the Protection of the Environment and Conservation of Biodiversity (EPBC), as well as with the legislation of the relevant Territory”.
Substantial penalties apply for clearing without approval in the case of significant impacts on threatened species.
Individuals can be fined nearly $1.5 million, while penalties for corporations reach $13.75 million and up to seven years in prison.
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said reports of extensive land clearing in the NT are “very worrying.”
“There must be serious consequences for anyone who does the wrong thing,” he told ABC.
A NT government spokesperson said the federal government had “previously sought advice” on approving the cleanup of one of the properties investigated by ABC, following a complaint they received from the NT Environment Center.
“The federal department has not informed the NT government of any additional or new investigation,” the spokesman said.
Ask for a wider probe
This week, Green senator Sarah Hanson-Young called on the federal government to launch an urgent investigation into the allegations, citing “deep concern” over the lack of response from the NT government and the regulations currently in place.
“So far, the NT government has failed to regulate and is instead paving the way for a major expansion of the cotton industry in this fragile ecosystem,” he said in a letter to Ms Plibersek.
The calls have been endorsed by independent Senator David Pocock.
But environmental groups are now raising questions about the breadth of the investigation and why action was not taken sooner.
Director of the NT Environmental Center Kirsty Howey said while she welcomed the investigation, the slow response was disappointing.
Multiple attempts to alert the government to illegal logging at three cotton stations were ignored, he said.
“Minister Plibersek’s investigation must have a much broader scope. [The ABC’s] 7.30 revealed a complete failure of regulation by the NT government which raises serious questions about its ability to regulate and its relationship to the cotton industry,” he said.
Ms Howey said the cleared land is likely habitat for Gould’s finch, ghost bat, wood pigeon and five other threatened species listed in the EPBC Act.
“It is absolutely a matter of federal voting given the commitment of the Albanian government to stop the extinction crisis plaguing Australia,” he said.
No economic benefit from NT cotton, study finds
Since the NT cotton ban was lifted in 2018, industry advocates and the NT government have repeatedly asserted that cotton would be good for the economy and create jobs.
In 2020, a study commissioned by the NT Farmers Association and funded by the NT government found that a cotton industry in NT has the potential to add $200 million to the NT economy and generate 91 direct and indirect jobs throughout the Territory.
But the Australia Institute says its new study shows these claims don’t add up.
Research director Rod Campbell said census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows cotton farming employs just 1,121 people across the country.
And you don’t pay a lot of taxes.
“Minister Manison has said she has gone, and I quote, ‘scratching her head’ over opposition to agricultural developments like cotton in the NT, and urges people to seek the benefits,” Campbell said.
“That’s exactly what we’ve done here, we’ve looked for the benefits.”
“What is the potential employment? Very low. What are the potential tax payments and revenue implications for the NT government? Near zero or negative.
“If the NT government insists on subsidizing the cotton industry by giving away water and potentially funding infrastructure, I just call that bad economic policy and bad environmental policy.”
Michael Murray, general manager of Cotton Australia, said the cotton industry generates economic activity and “a lot of additional employment”, and has cast doubt on what he described as “selective” census data.
“If people want to see the impact of the industry, go to cities like Moree, Goondiwindi or St. George… where cotton was produced. Feel the buzz of the place,” he said.
ABC reached out to both NT Farmers Association CEO Paul Burke and Bruce Connolly, president of the Northern Cotton Growers Association, but both declined to comment.
Campbell said while it’s hard to predict exactly what might happen in the NT, he pointed to the Ord Scheme in Western Australia, where both the federal and state governments have spent millions expanding.
“WA’s auditor general found that it created about 60 jobs. We’re talking millions of dollars per job,” he said.
“I’m certainly not against growing cotton in Australia… But this is a bit of a different situation.
“If the NT is looking to create farm jobs, it should be looking at almost any other sector of agriculture.”