NT minister sued over Chinese water licence

Traditional owners sue NT Labor minister over ‘seriously irrational’ decision to grant free-water licence to Chinese firm.

Members of the Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation at Singleton Station in the Northern Territory. Picture: Central Land Council

Traditional owners in central Australia are suing a Northern Territory Labor minister over her “seriously irrational” decision to grant a giant free-water licence to a controversial Chinese company after just one business day of consideration.

The Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation alleges Territory Families Minister Kate Worden “cannot have properly considered” voluminous technical evidence about the Territory’s largest groundwater permit.

Documents before the Territory Supreme Court show Ms Worden was delegated authority over the licence on Thursday ­November 11 last year and regranted it the following Monday. The associated ministerial brief is understood to stretch to more than 1000 pages.

“Given the short time between delegation and decision, and the volume and technical nature of the materials, it may be inferred (that) the minister cannot have properly considered (certain key) factors,” court documents say.

“The minister’s decision to grant the licence was seriously ­irrational as no rational minister would have treated the (evidence) so irrationally.”

The licence to take up to 40,000 megalitres a year – enough to fill almost 17,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools – from ­aquifers beneath the desert around Tennant Creek was ­issued to Fortune Agribusiness for a horticulture project.

Fortune is part-owned by Melbourne media mogul and political donor Tommy Jiang (also known as Jiang Zhao Qing), who has ­alleged ties to the Chinese government.

Mr Jiang has been linked to political fundraising efforts and Victoria’s attempts to join the Belt and Road Initiative. An Australian Strategic Policy Institute ­report tied him to the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Australian is not suggesting Mr Jiang has engaged in any wrongdoing.

The water licence was first granted by the NT Water Controller in April last year, against the wishes of local traditional owners. It was swiftly challenged by them and environmental groups, triggering a review process that involved a panel of experts.

Environment Minister Eva Lawler was scheduled to decide whether the Water Controller’s decision should be upheld but ­recused herself amid claims guidance she gave during the original decision-making process showed she was conflicted.

Mpwerempwer believes that even after the review, the conditions attached to the licence are sufficiently loose as to “leave open the possibility the proposal as carried out will be significantly different to the proposal (that was) the subject of the application”.

Fortune has said its horticulture project will create a $180m export market for central Australia and an estimated 110 full-time jobs and 1350 seasonal jobs.

Michael Jones, a traditional owner and Central Land Council delegate, said Fortune’s licence could harm water-dependent ­sacred sites. Locals object to ­licence conditions they say give Fortune, not them, responsibility for assessing cultural values. They think any such assessment should have been done before the licence was issued.

“All these places were made by Ngappa Wirnkarna (rain dreaming); all these places will be affected if there is no water,” Mr Jones said.

“The story will still be there, still alive, the song will be there and still be sung, but we will be sad when we go to that place all dead.

“The story will be weaker for younger people because the ­places will be ruined. We take them to soakages that are gone and to country that is sick.”

CLC chief executive Lesley Turner accused the NT government of trying to “let Fortune Agribusiness mine a very precious, finite ­resource that is likely to dwindle even further due to ­climate change and more frequent droughts”.

“The native-title holders don’t want the company to drain our groundwater and leave, like a mining company; they want the government to manage our water sustainably,” he said.

Fortune chairman Peter Wood declined to comment, citing the court proceedings.

An NT government spokeswoman said Fortune’s licence “was granted after rigorous modelling and data showed the ­licensed amount is sustainable and can be managed without adversely impacting other users”.

She said the Environment Minister delegated her authority to the Territory Families Minister “to rule out any perceived conflict”.

The Arid Lands Environment Centre is separately suing the Northern Territory government over Fortune’s licence. The centre’s claim alleges the licence was granted through “jurisdictional error” and is therefore “legally unreasonable”.

The centre believes the licence is inconsistent with the region’s water allocation plan.