Georgetown crop farmers call for Gilbert water allocations

He was commenting in the wake of the release of the report into the assessment of tenders for unallocated water in southern Gulf catchments, which showed that $10 million had been paid to the state government for 100,000 megalitres of new water allocations in the Flinders, Gregory and Lower Leichhardt catchments.

A comparative water allocation process in the Gilbert River catchment was put on hold while an Environmental Impact Statement for the Integrated Food and Energy Development group’s $2 billion irrigated agriculture project was sought, but this failed to meet the government deadline seven months ago.

Mr Fry’s Forest Home operation planted 300 hectares to sorghum and corn in mid to late February, some of it in virgin country, and he said that while he and his sons had proved farming in the area would work, a critical mass of irrigated agriculture was needed to unlock the economic viability of the region.

“I’m sure (Etheridge mayor) Warren Devlin and the council are doing their best, but we’re running out of time,” he said.

“We need funding under the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and we need water licences and a project of state significance declared, so that people can subdivide and clear land.

“A proper plan has got to be put in place for funding an irrigation project on the Gilbert River.

“Us oldies were brought up with cows, that’s OK, but our future is about diversity.”

The lack of any new water allocation announcements in the wake of the IFED failure hasn’t gone unnoticed by shadow Natural Resources spokesman, Andrew Cripps, who said landholders were being denied the use of an additional 450,000ML identified in a CSIRO report.

“There has been no progress on releasing additional volumes of water in the Gilbert River catchment,” Mr Cripps said, adding that new water allocations in both the Flinders and Gilbert River catchments will only be useful if landholders can secure vegetation management permits to develop land for irrigated agriculture, which he said was “unlikely to happen under the Palaszczuk government”.

Minister Anthony Lyneham had no response to the comments, but a Department of Natural Resources spokesman said the government was committed to unlocking access to water in the north west to support sustainable agriculture, rural industry jobs, and local development, and expected the next Gilbert catchment water allocation process to occur sometime this year.

Mr Cripps said if the LNP was successful at the next state election, the Department of Natural Resources and Mines would progress the release of additional water allocations in the Gilbert River catchment, seek further opportunities to make water available in the Flinders River catchment and ensure high value agriculture applications were appropriately assessed on their merits.

This would suit Mr Fry, who is currently selling his produce to Advanced Rural in Tolga, but would like to see infrastructure such as a cotton gin and a sugar mill established to turn his home town into a major business hub for northern Queensland.

“I’ve fallen in love with the Gilbert area,” he said. “We could have another Ord River here but no-one in government is saying anything about Georgetown.

“If we drop back into an El Nino, it’s very hard to make a living from cow prices.

“My sons have proved that farming will work.

“We’ve had a go and we’re surprising locals who’ve depended on cattle for generations.”

He says a critical mass of crop production can only happen with an in-stream dam such as the proposed Green Hills dam, outlined as part of the 2009 Gulf Savannah Development Gilbert River Agricultural Precinct scoping brief.