Disgraced cotton king jailed: $8.7m fraud rocks water program

A former Australian Cotton Farmer of the Year was jailed on Wednesday after pleading guilty to defrauding millions from a water efficiency program.

John Douglas Norman leaves the Brisbane Supreme Court in April 2025. Picture: Tertius Pickard

A former Australian Cotton Farmer of the Year who defrauded millions from a water efficiency program that struck “at the heart” of public funding has been jailed.

John Douglas Norman, owner of Goondiwindi’s Norman Farming at the relevant time, was sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty to six counts of fraud.

Brisbane’s District Court heard that Norman lodged false and fraudulently altered claims for agriculture work done under the government funded Healthy Headwaters Program.

The program was aimed to assist irrigators in the Queensland Murray–Darling Basin to invest in efficient irrigation systems and technologies and usually involved the government funding up to 90 per cent of the works carried out.

The program paid about $20 million to Norman over six funding agreements between 2011 and 2016 of which $8.7 million was found to have been dishonestly paid out by the lodging of fraudulent invoices.

“Mr Norman engaged in a wide ranging fraud over an extended period of some five years by which he used fraudulent invoices to cause DNRM (the Department of Natural Resources and Mines) to pay $8.7 million it would otherwise not have been obliged to,” Judge Bernard Porter said.

“He involved his farming contractors and employees in this, benefiting only himself and his enterprises at their expense.

“In doing so, he brought an important public water program into disrepute and undermined faith in public administration.”

Judge Porter said the offending occurred despite Norman Farming being a large well resourced agricultural company.

The court heard the works were actually carried out and water rights were transferred to the Commonwealth for environmental uses meaning “one of the objects of the scheme was achieved”.

The Crown did not contend it suffered any identifiable loss by the offending in part because of the “chaotic nature” of Norman’s record keeping which the court heard related to his undiagnosed ADHD at the time.

It was also not submitted that his offending had enriched his companies.

Judge Porter said it wasn’t your typical fraud where the money was taken and spent on things like “gambling, lamborghinis, helicopters … or mistresses”.

He accepted Norman, 50, regretted the offending, was highly unlikely to reoffend and the ostracising of him and his family from farming and their community amounted to extra curial punishment.

“I accept that the disgrace was extensive,” he said.

Norman, who was named Australian Cotton Farmer of the Year in 2010, was jailed for 9.5 years with parole eligibility set at June 2028 with time served.

Outside court Det Supt Troy Pukallus said the outcome was a credit to the specialist detectives involved given the length and complexity of the case.

“It’s really important to acknowledge their work but also the witnesses involved in this case,” he said.

“This shows the value of our rural and stock crime investigators … lots of hours and lots of time to actually understand what had happened.”

Originally published as Disgraced cotton king jailed: $8.7m fraud rocks water program