‘EFFECTIVELY BEING IGNORED’: NLC condemns govt’s water law amendments

The Northern Land Council has condemned the passing of legislative water amendments, saying the concerns of Aboriginal Territorians were “effectively being ignored”.

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THE Northern Land Council (NLC) has condemned the NT government’s passing of legislative water amendments, saying the concerns of Aboriginal Territorians were “effectively being ignored”.

Last week a raft of reforms recommended by the Territory Economic Reconstruction Commission have passed into law, including to the Water Act 1992 which ensures businesses and industry can obtain a longer water licence when they meet updated criteria.

Attorney-General Selena Uibo said all the reforms passed were “about cutting red tape and approval times”.

“These amendments make things simpler – but not more risky,” Ms Uibo said.

“We still have robust protections in place for our valuable resources.

“The legislation will also open the door to new investment opportunities for the private sector, which will help grow our economy.”

In a statement the NLC said it was concerned the changes could allow large-scale water

allocations granted outside of the established water allocation processes, without any proper

scrutiny or involvement by Aboriginal traditional owners and other stakeholders.

“The government should be telling our mob more about what they are doing to our water,” said NLC chairman Samuel Bush-Blanasi.

“If we aren’t careful, we’ll end up like the Murray-Darling river systems in New South Wales, where governments have long failed indigenous interests in water,’ he said.

“The government has talked about making business easier but we need to hold them to account and make sure they do the right thing by Aboriginal and other Territorians and not just big developers who want big mobs of our water for free.”

NLC acting chief executive Joe Martin-Jard said there was no consideration for Aboriginal Territorians’ concerns.

“Land Councils and our constituents are being effectively ignored by the government,” he said.

“Just last week we heard that a survey commissioned by the Central Land Council has identified dozens of sacred sites that could be threatened by a massive water licence at Singleton Station.

“The CLC is making a formal review of a massive water allocation at Singleton Station because the government failed to carry out an adequate baseline assessment of the impacts to Aboriginal cultural values before issuing the water licence.

“How can we possibly keep our sacred places safe while growing our own Aboriginal economy if our voices aren’t being listened to?”

The NLC’s concerns are echoed by the Central Land Council, which feared the reforms would “lower the bar for water licence approvals”.

“The changes will make it easier for developers and speculators to get 30-year groundwater licences for free and for the responsible minister to shift accountability for decisions to the unelected water controller,” said chief executive Lesley Turner.