An industrial Cotton Gin near Katherine

The Territory has some of the most special rivers remaining in Australia and in the world. Iconic, free flowing rivers like the Daly, Roper and Katherine underpin livelihoods, culture and lifestyle.

But our rivers are under threat from big business who want to take huge amounts of water, and clear large areas of land. The cotton industry backed by players straight from the Murray Darling is gearing up to massively expand operations in the Territory – and the first step in their plan is to build a huge cotton gin at Tarwoo Station just outside of Katherine.

If this gin is built, it could see large swathes of land cleared for crops, and massive amounts of water taken from our river systems. It means more noise, traffic, pollution and water issues for residents who live just around the corner. At full operation, the cotton gin would need hundreds of thousands of litres per day of water just to keep it running.

What’s even more concerning is that this huge enabling industrial facility may not require any proper scrutiny by the Northern Territory Environmental Protection Authority – the very body tasked with making sure that our environment and health aren’t impacted. 

Territorians should be able to rely on our Government to do the right thing, and ensure that we don’t damage our Top End way of life. Big cotton has already devastated river systems like the Murray-Darling. We don’t want to see the same thing happen to our Territory rivers. 

Write to the NT Government today

Call on them to do their job, and ensure that this proposed Cotton Gin is properly scrutinised.