Last year we heard the shocking news that the mighty Roper River has been earmarked for “dams, weirs and pipelines”. Now a new report has been released and it's clear Canberra is pursuing large dams and industrial-scale crops like cotton for the Roper River.

Shockingly, the Roper River is being viewed by politicians in Canberra as ‘a greenfield development opportunity’. The Federal report outlines that there is potential for clearing of more than one million hectares of land for industrial-scale irrigated crops in the Roper River catchment for export Overseas. 

I don’t want the destruction that comes with dams, clearing and irrigated cotton. We don’t want the Roper to become the next Murray-Darling. 

These great rivers are the lifeblood of our coasts and seas, supporting fisheries like prawns, barramundi and mudcrab. The Roper flows into Limmen Bight Marine Park sustaining the ecosystem, which includes extensive seagrass beds, home to turtle and dugong populations. 

Without adequate protections in place, destructive proposals threaten to destroy the Roper River. Healthy rivers and coasts are central to our Top End way of life, the great NT fishing experience and our economy. They are critical to our shared future. 

This is the latest in a long list of threats to our Top End coasts and fishing lifestyle. It’s time to deliver the protection our NT rivers and coasts so desperately need. 

I ask that you put the Plan for our coasts into action, to help recover our Top End economy and safeguard our fishing, culture and lifestyle, and take action to keep the mighty Roper flowing.