Land Clearing

9 August 2004

Daly at the Crossroads

The Daly River Community Reference Group (DRCRG) is now in the final stages of writing its report to the NT Government based on the last eight months of meetings and debates.

The DRCRG was established at the end of 2003 by Chief Minister Clare Martin in response to community opposition to Government department's plans for a major expansion of landclearing and water extraction in the Daly region.

The DRCRG, made up of approximately 14 people representing various interests and stakeholders and chaired by Rick Farley, has been useful in bringing to light our almost complete lack of knowledge about the Daly river ecosystem and how to plan for ecologically sustainable development.

Scientists recently provided the DRCRG with a 35 page summary of key knowledge gaps in the Daly, as well as papers highlighting the lack of a comprehensive environmental monitoring system and serious flaws in the data on water flows.

The DRCRG has also highlighted the lack of appropriate integrated natural resource management and water allocation legislation and planning processes that can be used in the Daly.

All of this confirms just how crucial it is that no new large scale landclearing applications or water licences be approved in the Daly catchment. There is no way that such expansion could be said to be sustainable or of overall economic benefit to the community.

There is strong support on the DRCRG for an extended moratorium on landclearing and water allocations, as well as legislative reform and the creation of appropriate planning processes and management bodies.

New clearing approved

In the meantime, government agencies have taken advantage of the ambiguity that surrounds the existing moratorium on subdivisions and landclearing in the Daly.

At the start of the DRCRG process the Chief Minister announced a moratorium on approvals for more landclearing in the Daly. Although the DRCRG was promised a map showing exactly where the moratorium started and ended, no such map was ever provided.

While the government has been happy for the public to believe that the moratorium covers the whole of the Daly catchment, as it logically should, the Pastoral Lands Board and DIPE have decided that it only applies to a small part of the Daly catchment - an area known as the 'focus area'. No government document states that the moratorium is restricted to the 'focus area', nor that it covers the whole catchment.

When the Environment Centre NT objected to the recent approval of two new landclearing operations in the Daly catchment, Lands Minister Dr Chris Burns responded with a terse media release accusing ECNT of being either "mischievous or ignorant" - a classic case of blameshifting.

For more information call:
Charles Roche
Freshwater Campaigner
8941 7439 or
email ecntdaly@iinet.net.au

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