Peak body Cotton Australia has publicly rebuked ABC’s latest Four Corners TV instalment titled ‘Water Grab’, claiming the episode portrayed a one-sided view of the cotton industry.
In the latest episode, Four Corners investigated a river system in the Northern Territory which it claimed was “riven by conflicts of interest that threatens to destroy some of the NT’s most famous tourism destinations. All the white ignoring the interests of traditional owners.”
Cotton Australia reported it was disappointed over the episode, and claimed that this is not the first time Four Corners has published one-sided views on the cotton industry. In 2019, the peak body had engaged Four Corners on a story regarding water infrastructure where cotton was a focus. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) released a report following that story, which found that Four Corners breached its own Code of Practice on the issue of due impartiality and unduly favouring one perspective.
“Due to this and other experiences with Four Corners, Cotton Australia took the deliberate decision not to engage with them on this program given their past bias,” Cotton Australia wrote.
“Again, last night [August 19], Four Corners portrayed a one-sided view of the industry, disregarded legitimate scientific research, made conclusions based on repeated claims by activists, promoted the electoral ambitions of a key opponent of the industry and irresponsibly raised alarmist claims about possible catastrophic outcomes and a devastated tourism industry.”
The statement then listed 10 claims shared on the Four Corners program and a response to each, including the allegation that unsustainable levels of water are being taken from aquifers threatening the Roper River in the Katherine region, which may run dry.
On the above claim, Cotton Australia noted that there is no independent evidence to validate it.
“The CSIRO has published its own report which contradicts suggestions the Roper River system will run dry,” the peak body wrote.
Regarding the allegation that indigenous owners are being ignored, Cotton Australia reported that regardless of status, all local people are actively consulted with thorough water allocation planning processes.
“All pastoral development applications, land or water, undergo a public submission period," the statement continued. "During this period all relevant government and non-government organisations can make comments on the proposed submission that the Consent Authority must then consider in their decision-making process, this includes ground truth visits from members of the Pastoral Land Board.
“All Indigenous stakeholders are given ample opportunity, like all others, to make comment through the same process.”
Ragtrader has reached out to Four Corners for comment.
According to Britannica, land used specifically for agriculture and horticulture in the Northern Territory accounts for less than 1 per cent of its area. Nearly half of the territory’s area is used as grazing land for livestock.
Cotton Australia also shared statistics stating that there are currently 13 cotton growers in the Northern Territory. Around 12,982 hectares is planted, with only 575 hectares grown with irrigation - around 4.5 per cent of the total crop.
“Water used is from existing water allocations that previously would have been used to grow other crops,” Cotton Australia reported. “Any water used for irrigating cotton is from existing water allocations (using ground water).
“There are 407 water licences for agriculture in existence. Only 9 of those involve cotton.
“Currently, there is no irrigated cotton grown with water extracted from a river or from wet season flows. At this stage there are no applications from cotton growers for wet season flow water. Only around 0.01 per cent of Australian Cotton is grown in the Northern Territory.”