The Northern Territory government has launched legal action against the owners of Claravale Station over allegations of unpermitted land clearing.
Key points:
- In a letter leaked to the ABC, NT Planning Minister Joel Bowden says criminal charges have been filed in the Katherine Local Court
- He says the NT government has carried out its own investigation of the station
- Mr Bowden says the court action sends a message that allegations of unpermitted clearing "will be treated seriously"
It's believed to be the first time any such action has been taken by a government in the NT's history, and comes more than a year after an ABC investigation uncovered land clearing without a permit at three cotton stations.
At Claravale Station, satellite images revealed that hundreds of hectares of land adjacent to the Daly River had been cleared without a permit between June and September 2021.
They showed trees razed to the ground closer than permitted to the river, and around 15 metres from its edge at the closest point.
A land clearing permit for part of the property was then retrospectively issued by government authorities in September that year, even though the land had already been cleared.
A federal government investigation – which has yet to make findings — was announced shortly after the ABC probe, while environment groups, federal senators and the NT's Northern Land Council (NLC) called for an inquiry.
The NT government also opened its own investigation into two stations following multiple complaints from environment groups and rangers.
Court action sends strong message, government says
In a letter leaked to the ABC, the NT's Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, Joel Bowden, said he had "determined to prosecute the matter … under the Planning Act" in November, and that criminal charges had been filed in the Local Court.
"Acting on advice from an extensive investigation, I determined that the seriousness of the allegations warranted pursuing a prosecution," Mr Bowden told the ABC in a statement on Friday.
He said the NT government's investigation had included satellite imagery, aerial photography and expert witness statements.
"Prosecuting this matter sends a message that allegations of unpermitted clearing will be treated seriously," he said.
The ABC reached out to the owners of Claravale, who declined to comment.
A spokesman from Cotton Australia said while he would not comment on the current case because of the pending legal action, he had "faith in the legal system to come to a just conclusion".
"In general, if anyone is found to be knowingly breaking the law in relation to land clearing, or any activity associated with cotton growing, then they deserve to face the relevant penalties arising from those actions," he said.
Despite the delay, NT Environment Centre executive director Kirsty Howey welcomed the prosecution, and said the legal action showed the seriousness of the alleged land clearing.
She said it was a "massive win for the community" and especially for those who were first to uncover the trees being cleared.
"Unfortunately, what we've seen here is the government not doing its job in the first place," she said.
After the NT's cotton processing station, owned by Western Australia Northern Territory (WANT) Cotton Company, was fined $7,536 last September for land clearing before a permit was issued, Ms Howey said she hoped legal action would act as a greater deterrent.
The NLC's chief executive, Joe Martin-Jard, said unregulated land clearing would continue without stronger laws and there was a need for "deterrents [that] are strong enough to change the illegal behaviour of corporate cowboys".
"Fining any company after the event is not a win," he said.
"The compliance system should have checks and balances to ensure illegal activity is identified early, stopped and actively discouraged in the future."
While the NT government has plans to scale up the cotton cropping industry, in the hopes of spurring the economy, Amateur Fishermen's Association of the NT (AFANT) chief executive David Ciaravolo said he was concerned that land clearing was jeopardising rivers such as the Daly, which sustains a number of remote communities.
As the riparian zone — the land alongside creeks and rivers — is a critical habitat, he said it's important it is left intact.
"Looking after the land around rivers, looking after our catchment as a whole, is so important — not just the rivers themselves, but the land around the rivers," he said.
NT Environment Minister Kate Worden said the territory had strong environmental protections and regulations.
"We will continue to enforce our strong land clearing rules – and action compliance, like this current matter," she said.
"Our government understands the importance of balancing the need for economic development to support Territorians' livelihoods and wellbeing, with the imperative of environmental sustainability."
Australian Greens Senator, Janet Rice, said illegal land clearing was a "massive problem" across Australia, and while the NT government's legal action was a good first step, the federal government needed to be involved.
She said the Greens were continuing their calls for an "urgent inquiry" into the impacts of land clearing in the NT.
"You've clearly got a Northern Territory government that is working closely with the cotton industry, paving the way for massive expansion of the industry," she said.
"So it's really important — when you've got areas of national environmental significance, where you've got critically endangered birds and animals that are listed on the federal government's list of threatened species, that the federal government actually has got very strong oversight."
The owners of Claravale Station, Michael Simmich and Clayton Coleman from the Top End Pastoral Company Pty Ltd, will first have their matters heard in the Katherine Local Court on February 27.