By ERWIN CHLANDA
“We will not spend another dollar on activists and economic vandals and their disruptive agendas.”
This is how Joshua Burgoyne (pictured), NT Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment, announced that his government has axed its $100,000 annual grant for the Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC), Central Australia’s peak environmental organisation for over 40 years and with 400 members.
Yet Mr Burgoyne apparently doesn’t hesitate to spend time with the “vandals”: He is said to have a plot in the town’s community garden, one of ALEC’s many projects.
He says in a media statement the money will be directed away from “lawfare” and towards initiatives with “a focus on action, not activism”.
“We campaign, advocate and support local people to take action for the protection of arid lands and people,” states ALEC’s website.
“We are a strong and trusted voice for Australia’s iconic desert country. We stand up and speak out for the protection of land and water, animals and plants, special places and the communities that depend on them.
“We work with partners across vast landscapes to deliver solutions to the ecological challenges we face. We understand the importance of knowledge, science, research, education and engaging the community on the issues that matter.”
It is understood the loss is 20% of the group’s budget. The Environment Centre NT (ECNT) in the Top End is also losing $100,000.
UPDATE 3.30pm
ALEC policy officer Alex Vaughan says in a media release: “This is a deeply disappointing decision, but one which is in keeping with the disturbing, partisan and ruthless politics which is growing in 2025 across the NT, country and the world.
“We will continue to thrive, and today’s decision makes our organisation’s role more important than ever, confronting key threats from gas fracking in the Beetaloo and one of Australia’s largest groundwater licences at Singleton Station to buffel grass invasion, fires and climate change.
“This is another demonstration of a government that punches down.
“ALEC and ECNT have lost our funding today because we are effective and trusted. We are a threat to the CLP’s dangerous agenda to remove scrutiny, cut accountability, turbocharge gas extraction and pander to the orders and directives of big business.
“If you are angry, despondent or sad about today’s announcement, support us financially through ALEC’s Summer Appeal, become an ALEC member or volunteer with us. Collective action to care for and conserve the arid lands is how we respond to the ongoing crises the arid lands face.”
I wonder what Joshua plants on his patch?
@ Michael: Not much, he mostly uses it to harvest pics of himself looking like an active community member. I believe he’s been warned before that if he’s not gonna make use of it he needs to let someone else have a go. What a clown.
Absolutely shocking! Shows no respect for the environment in general and indeed no respect for the views of a significant percentage of the Central Australian / Top End population who DO care about environmental issues facing everyone. How do we get through to this Government?
As a Southener I get so sick and tired of the rorts that appear to be happening in the NT.
Where does all the money go. Are the true Australians benefiting from it ie the Indigenous population?
Are the Indigenous ripping of their fellow Indigenous Australians? I use the word Australians because I don’t know what else to use.
First he pulls the funding, then he plants the veggies — sounds like Minister Burgoyne is into hydroponic hypocrisy.
Beware! Economic vandals is a very poor choice of words.
There are lessons to be learned in the south based on greed and simply chasing dollars and no one is looking around.
A vegetable grower on the north side of the Murray between Morgan and Barmera grew onions – a few hundred hectares. Without warning he bulldozed a track down the cliffs and installed a pump big enough to almost make the river flow backwards. He was taken to the environmental court, fined $5000 which he paid out of his pocket on the way out and went home to harvest a $1m crop of onions.
Almost the same things are underway between Berri and Renmark using Canadian money on almonds.
That’s both environmental and economic vandalism and will probably happen here at Stirling Station where the value is in trading water. That’s why we need bodies like ALEC but with much stronger powers because there are many money hungry people in the world and the world needs food.
One useful need for ALEC and Desert Knowledge is to have a research body scouring the world for technologies that could be used here without extreme environmental damage and promote their use.
Israel and Dubhai have several but seemingly ignored here. 2500 dairy cattle running in the desert? How and what can we learn from them?
The same thing applies to water re use. How ridiculous it is to spend large money on pumping up antique water, flushing it down the loo and treating it as a waste product in a desert!
Time will tell who are the economic vandals.