After tumultuous few months, Office of Northern Water Delivery no longer attached to Department for Infrastructure and Transport

The office partly responsible for delivering a multibillion-dollar outback water project has transferred to a different department.

The office partly responsible for delivering a multibillion-dollar outback water project has transferred to a different department – after it was stripped of responsibility and its chief executive quit over a change of direction.

A notification in the Government Gazette said the Office of Northern Water Delivery would no longer be attached to the Department for Infrastructure (DIT) – despite DIT having responsibility for delivering key aspects of the project.

The office partly responsible for delivering a multibillion-dollar outback water project has transferred to a different department. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Instead, the office is now connected to the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM).

The Office of Northern Water Delivery was quietly formed in July to oversee the $5bn project, which includes an Eyre Peninsula desalination plant and a 600km pipeline to the Far North.

At that time, Northern Water was handed over from Infrastructure South Australia, and consultancy MBB Group was commissioned to conduct a $200,000 review.

Former chief executive Matt Hardy told staff in September that the project would be split, and project development and procurement would be handed to DIT.

Mr Hardy quit in September, telling colleagues “the role I came here to do has changed,” and “it no longer makes much sense for me to continue being involved with the project”.

The project has an allocated budget of $230m up until early 2026, when a decision is due on whether it will proceed.

A state government spokesman said it made sense to attach the office to DEM.

“After a detailed review of the functions of the Office for Northern Water, which is currently in a pre-final investment decision phase, it was determined that responsibilities for procurement and pre-delivery, as well as stakeholder engagement, most appropriately remained under the Department for Infrastructure and Transport,” he said.

“DIT recently completed a successful procurement process for the T2D project, the largest and most complex infrastructure project in the state’s history, and this allocation leverages the department’s established expertise in delivering projects of this magnitude.

“The remaining functions of the office relating to future offtake agreements and negotiations with potential partners was considered to sit more comfortably with the Department for Energy and Mining, which has established relationships with prospective offtakes including BHP.”