The proposed bill abolishes the statutory requirement for allocation plans to preserve water for rivers, springs, wetlands, and ecosystems. It also lifts caps on total industrial extraction, eases compliance rules, and modifies laws concerning mining, heritage, and marine pollution. Central Land Council head Les Turner cautioned that native title holders would struggle to legally contest licenses, echoing the recent High Court decision over Singleton Station. Environment Minister Joshua Burgoyne defended the measure, maintaining that the territory's essential framework for assessments and pollution controls remains fully intact.
Key points
The Country Liberal party administration introduced the measure to facilitate expanded in…: The Country Liberal party administration introduced the measure to facilitate expanded industrial, agricultural, and fracking operations.
Native title holders face reduced legal capacity to challenge major commercial water lice…: Native title holders face reduced legal capacity to challenge major commercial water licenses under the proposed legal structure.
The water bill follows earlier policy rollbacks that eliminated emissions targets and est…: The water bill follows earlier policy rollbacks that eliminated emissions targets and established broad development override powers.
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The Northern Territory government has been accused of making a “blatant and shameless” attack on nature by planning to delete a legal requirement that water must be allocated to the environment.
In what has been described as the latest in a series of attacks on the environment by the NT’s Country Liberal party, the Finocchiaro government plans to change water rules that govern how much ground and surface water industry can take.
It comes as the government plans a major expansion of fracking, datacentres and agricultural development.
The Wilderness Society chief executive, Kirsty Howey, said the latest move was “extreme even for the NT CLP government”. She called on the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to withhold commonwealth water funding if the bill passed.
The Central Land Council, which represents Indigenous people in the southern half of the NT, said the territory government was trying to “covertly” remove the last remaining protections Territorians had in the use and management of water.
The council’s chief executive, Les Turner, said: “It is actively undermining community aspirations for improved and transparent water planning…
State officials designed this massive filtration site to intercept nutrient-heavy runoff flowing from agricultural and urban watersheds before it damages Lake Okeechobee's ecosystem. By reducing incoming pollution, the initiative targets the root causes of toxic blue-green algae blooms that frequently deplete dissolved oxygen and jeopardize aquatic wildlife. The regional water district also structured the multi-use land tract to preserve existing community flood control while providing new public recreation areas.
Rising temperatures across the Himalayas are destabilizing mountain slopes and severely disrupting critical downstream water supplies. Expert Mridula Ramesh warns that deteriorating frozen ground, which binds high-altitude terrain, heightens the threat of devastating landslides and glacial disasters. These shifting environmental conditions risk leaving regional communities facing both catastrophic floods and severe seasonal water shortages.
Gilly McArthur discovered the insect struggling on a scorching pavement with a missing wing, originally expecting it would not last through the day. The unusual companionship has since captured international attention online, while insect experts emphasize that individual care stories highlight critical widespread threats facing wild pollinators. The insect even accompanied its caregiver during a week-long sailing expedition along the Scottish coast.