Protect Our Rivers

The Greens will always stand with the community to look after our spectacular Territory nature.

Environmental protection is at the core of what we do.

Unlike the major parties, we don’t take corporate donations - so we are always free to speak for the community and for nature, not for the few big interests that try to dominate Territory politics.

To keep our rivers flowing, we need no dams, real limits and new laws.

No dams on the Daly and Roper

The Greens commit to ensuring the Daly and Roper Rivers run free. We commit to no dams on the Daly and the Roper.

A No Dams policy must include stopping dams from being built at scale in the floodplain catchment of these two rivers, or it’s not a real No Dams policy.

The evidence is clear that Wet Season flushes of the catchment are vital to the health of the rivers and to the lifecycle of important species, including barramundi and prawns, as well as less well-known species.

Floodplain harvesting, and especially at the scale planned by the cotton industry, would be a disaster for the Daly and the Roper. In Parliament, we would pursue an effective ban on floodplain harvesting at scale and shine a light on the connections between the big cotton corporations and the major parties.

Precautionary binding limits on water take

The message from Traditional Owners, ecologists and other members of the community is clear: the current rates of industrial water extraction from the Daly and Roper Rivers are already having a major impact.

Corporate interests like the cotton and fracking companies want to massively increase this take. NT Governments of both major parties have given away far too much Territory water to big corporations for free, with shoddy environmental assessment and for little community benefit.

We commit to no additional allocations from the Daly and Roper catchments for exploitation until an independent public review is complete. We also commit to a review of existing licenses and their impacts on the rivers, and to enacting binding limits on water extraction. You can review our water policy here.

We also commit to a ban on fracking and to oppose the cotton corporations’ plans for a massive Murray-Darling style expansion in the Top End. These industries are known to be voracious for their water appetite, and we share the community concern that their existing plans for extraction are the thin edge of the wedge.

The Greens will always work with the community to protect our rivers.

New water laws that protect rivers

We commit to overhauling the Territory’s water laws to protect rivers, groundwater and wetlands. The current Water Act and water plans are totally unable to protect the Territory’s rivers or groundwater dependent waterholes, trees and soaks.

The new, overhauled water laws must include specific legal designations and protections for special rivers like the Daly and the Roper, and for essential aquifers and wetlands as well.

The Greens have a track record of being the party that works for better protections for water nationwide. In 2023, we negotiated better water protections through the federal Parliament that mean that all Territory fracking projects can be assessed and stopped by the federal Environment Minister.

River clearing buffer zones

Land clearing is one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss, erosion and degradation in the Territory. Our rivers, savannas and climate are under threat from the current almost unregulated approach from NT Governments of both major parties.

We commit to buffer zones of at least 2km to protect rivers from the impacts of land clearing, with larger areas considered to protect sensitive habitat and cultural values. These buffer zones must be clearly defined and binding - and be matched by resources to enforce them.

Our policy platform also includes other key pieces of the puzzle to wind back the march of rampant land clearing. We commit to work with other parties to bring in an NT Biodiversity Act that would protect intact native vegetation for the first time, and an NT Biodiversity Strategy to inform research and action to protect nature here.

We also commit to taking land clearing approval out of the hands of the Pastoral Land Board, and referring all major land clearing projects instead to the NT Environmental Protection Agency. You can read our water and biodiversity election initiatives here.

Funding for local communities to actively take part in water decisions

Traditional Owners and local communities understand the needs of our rivers and understand their own needs. We commit to sustained, targeted financial support for local communities to make decisions about the future of the rivers where they live.

The example of Martuwarra Fitzroy River over the border in WA shows a path to long term, community led decision-making for tropical flooding free flowing rivers. That model requires consistent, targeted support. We need the NT Government to partner with the federal government to deliver new models of river governance that recognise local decision-making and formally recognise the significant values of the Territory’s rivers.