NT decision to grant biggest ever water licence labelled ‘extraordinary’ giveaway

Report also finds employment benefits from Fortune Agribusiness's Singleton station venture were largely illusory'

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The Northern Territory government's decision to grant its biggest ever water licence to a private business is an extraordinary" giveaway of a public asset worth up to $300m for employment benefits that are largely illusory", a new report commissioned by the Central Land Council claims.

Last year the NT government granted Fortune Agribusiness a free 30-year licence to extract up to 40,000 megalitres of groundwater a year from aquifers under Singleton station, near Tennant Creek. The NT does not currently have a water pricing regime and does not charge developers for water.

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