Queensland farmers challenge new Condamine water-basin bill over groundwater protections
A new Queensland bill on the Condamine Alluvium has triggered a fresh dispute between farmers and the state over how strongly groundwater and farmland will be protected.
A new dispute has opened in Queensland over the protection of groundwater that supports farming across the south of the state. ABC News reported that the government has tabled legislation focused on the Condamine Alluvium, a major underground water system beneath the Darling Downs. Farmers depend on that aquifer to irrigate crops and water livestock, so any regulatory change around extraction or nearby industrial activity carries direct consequences for agricultural production.
The conflict is tied to long-running coal seam gas development in the same area. Gas producers have been drilling there for years and pumping out large quantities of water as part of their operations. Farmers say the competition for water, along with land subsidence associated with drilling, is already damaging the environment and raising risks for the region’s farming base. That background explains why the latest legal proposal is being judged not only on what it adds, but also on what it removes.
The bill does include several stronger provisions for future projects. Companies would have to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that new developments will not cause long-term damage to the water supply. Landholders whose property sinks because of nearby drilling would gain a clearer right to pursue compensation, including through the Land Court. Gas companies would also need a landholder’s formal agreement before drilling a directional well that travels underground beneath private land.
At the same time, the bill would remove the requirement for a regional interests development approval, or RIDA, before gas companies operate on mapped high-value cropping or agricultural land. That approval can currently be used to assess the specific impact of a project on farmland. The government argues the step duplicates a strengthened environmental authority process, but farmers see the removal as a weakening of scrutiny. A further flashpoint is that all existing wells and approvals would be exempt from the new rules.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the legislation was overdue and described the Condamine Alluvium as one of Queensland’s most important groundwater systems. Cecil Plains farmer Liza Balmain rejected the government’s framing and said dropping the RIDA process ran against earlier commitments. Condamine MP Pat Weir said the draft bill would give the environment minister power to intervene and reject an approval, while Australian Energy Producers Queensland director Keld Knudsen said the gas industry would engage constructively and support evidence-based protections. The government also said it has not approved any new gas development applications in the Surat Basin since taking office, and the bill will now proceed to parliamentary debate.