NTCA on chief health officers and miners

Industry leaders said the time for government intrusion in the lives of Australians was over.

The unprecedented measures taken in the name of preventing the spread of COVID-19 were now destroying cattle businesses, they argued.

Speaking at the Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association annual conference, president David Connolly said the chief health officer was someone most people didn't know existed a few years ago.

"Our industry has done a lot of heavy lifting during the pandemic," he said of the lockdown requirements which required workers to be flown and driven personally across borders.

At a time of extreme disruption, agriculture had delivered - it had even increased in value in the past three years.

The powers granted to health officials exceed even those granted to the police force, Mr Connolly said.

"The power to enter your home, make you turn over private information, to detain you, to prevent you going to places at the time of your choosing, to throw you out of places and to prevent you from working.

"This obscene power given to unelected public officials must stop. This health emergency must be undeclared.

"The attitude that only those employed by government can be trusted to make good decisions is farcical."

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Mr Connolly also used his opening address at the conference to call on his state government to ensure pastoral interests are protected during mining and gas exploration and developments.

2022 marks 150 years since the NT pastoral industry was born, sparking Mr Connolly to provide somewhat of a history lesson.

"Instead of selling off land, the government of the day agreed to pastoral leases as a way of retaining interest over land about which not much was known," he explained.

"The benefit was that any future wealth generated from minerals discovery could be returned to the crown. This was 1872 and gold was on their minds.

"However, security over the land was needed, so leases were granted in proprietary so ownership could be retained, unlike the 99-year leases happening elsewhere.

"The effects of these decisions remain with us today. There are seventh generation pastoralists operating here in the NT.

"As an industry we have outlasted countless governments and ministers and there aren't many industries as old as ours."

But the 'unspoken agreement with government' that pastoralists entered into 150 years ago left a door open that today many wished was closed, Mr Connolly said.

"We agreed we will pay for the right to run our cattle, we will build towns and communities and manage the land and in return governments must provide protection for these things we've built," he said.

"Their laws make it clear what is expected of us but so often the expectations of us are far higher than what is expected of them and others that would offer them a bag of silver."

One of those protections, he argued, was of the land itself from the unintentional consequences of the mining and gas industries.

"There must be strong clear leadership from the NT Government that there is an understanding and commitment to protect the pastoral estate against an environmental accident," Mr Connolly said.

Only 64 of the 135 recommendations from the Pepper Inquiry's minimum standards to protect landowners regarding the energy industry have been implemented.

These recommendations ensure land access agreements are negotiated equitability and a truly transparent process is regulated and enforced.

"The NTCA is not against oil, gas and petroleum development but we have been here a long time and seen failures of previous governments to adequately protect us from the environmental damage that can occur," Mr Connolly said.

"The pastoralist must be protected against this newly invigorated minerals sector that appears to think it has some god-given right to march all over our country in any way it pleases.

"Both of these industries are here to stay and need to mutually respect each other's operations.

"But in the instance where this doesn't happen, the government must provide an equitable pathway to resolve things. Today's legislation doesn't do this. It basically says if a miner wants to come on and do as they please, they can."

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