Revelations of large-scale land clearing, free water licences and questionable legal grounds for cotton farming in the Northern Territory have been aired on Monday night’s Four Corners program.
Among the issues raised in the program was the existence of a quasi-government entity, the NT Land Corporation, which manages about 600,000 hectares of land for economic development.
That’s more than twice the size of the Australian Capital Territory.
Despite its influence, little is known about the NT Land Corporation and how it works.
Here’s what we do know.
Large new water licences are being granted to developers in the Northern Territory. (Facebook: CPC)
What is the NT Land Corporation?
According to its website, the NT Land Corporation is a corporate entity entrusted to hold and maintain “strategic land” for future projects.
It was set up in 1986 under the Northern Territory Land Corporation Act.
A handful of public servants sit on its board, including chairman of the NT Planning Commission and independent fracking regulator David Ritchie and long-time bureaucrat Jo Townsend, chief executive of the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security.
Ms Townsend previously held wide-ranging powers in her former role as NT water controller, where she was in charge of granting, renewing and refusing water permits and licences.
Although the legislation states the NT Land Corporation is a body corporate that is “not subject to the control and direction of the minister or the Crown”, critics doubt whether it truly operates independently from government.
NT Environment Centre executive director Kirsty Howey said “the notion that it’s a private entity is, of course, a charade”.
“You have a number of senior Northern Territory government bureaucrats sitting on the board,” she said.
“It is housed within the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics in a Northern Territory government building.”
In response to this suggestion, a spokesman from the NT Land Corporation said in a statement: “The corporation is not a government entity and acts within corporation laws”.
The NT Land Corporation can release land for agricultural projects in the territory. (Four Corners: Ryan Sheridan)
What does it have the power to do?
The NT Land Corporation has the power to release land for public or industry use, including projects such as large-scale agricultural developments to grow crops such as melons and cotton.
“Its board decides when the time is right for land to be released, following consultation with government and due diligence validating the land release is appropriate,” the website states.
The NT government can also request land be handed over for development, according to the entity’s website.
Critics say the NT Land Corporation is more connected to government than it publicly states. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)
Under the legislation, the NT government may also advance money to the corporation to purchase land “on such terms and conditions as the Treasurer thinks fit”.
Lack of accountability
It is unclear how much money the Land Corporation has received from land sales over the years.
There is no annual reporting that is publicly available and it is not subject to Freedom of Information laws, nor is it brought before Estimates in parliament.
The corporation is not mentioned in NT budgets either, even though money received from land sales may return to Treasury.
The corporation’s website says it “engages external probity auditors and independent assessment panels to provide advice on its larger projects”.
“This assists NT Land Corporation with its decision making in selecting preferred proponents and ensures impartiality and a fair expressions of interest application process for applicants to demonstrate their capabilities,” its website reads.
Powerful Aboriginal land council criticises body
According to the Northern Land Council (NLC), which helps Aboriginal Territorians acquire and manage their traditional lands, the NT Land Corporation “was set up to help defeat Aboriginal land claims”.
“This is an established fact, as evidenced in legislative debates and the government statements from the time,” an NLC spokesperson said.
Under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976, Aboriginal Territorians have the right to claim land owned by the government.
But if the land is held by a non-government entity, then it cannot be claimed.
In response to this criticism, the NT Land Corporation said “land held by the corporation is subject to native title in the same manner as Crown Land”.
But government grants of land to the corporation, which gives it exclusive possession, “continue to operate as a barrier to native title claims”, according to the NLC.
Native title does not grant Aboriginal people the same powers as land rights under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, such as the right to veto projects.
Once water is allocated to the NT Land Corporation, it cannot be set aside for Aboriginal economic development under the Strategic Aboriginal Water Reserve.
NT major parties uninterested in change
Less than a week away from the Northern Territory election, regulation around water licensing appears distant in the minds of the major parties.
Eva Lawler and Lia Finocchiaro both back current rules around land clearing in the NT. (ABC News: Peter Garnish, Hamish Harty)
When asked if the role of the NT Land Corporation required changing, Chief Minister Eva Lawler said the body was both independent of government and well-placed to make decisions around land releases.
“We have less than 1 per cent of our land that is cleared. We do need to be able to see development in the Northern Territory,” she said.
“We need to see horticulture, we need to see agriculture development.
“We’ve done the work around the Environmental Protection Act, we’ve done the work around water.”
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said she too thought the regulation had the right balance.
“Our laws and guidelines and rules around land clearing and water management are some of the strictest in the country,” she said.
Her party isn’t proposing any changes to how the corporation operates either.
