The federal environment department is investigating allegations of unlawful land clearing in the Northern Territory, where satellite images obtained by the ABC suggest swathes of unique savanna have been flattened to make way for a cotton industry.
and financed by the NT government found that a cotton industry in the NT has the potential to contribute $200m to the NT economy, and generate 91 direct and indirect jobs across the Territory.Research director Rod Campbell said Census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows cotton growing employs just 1,121 people nation-wide.
"If the NT government insists on subsidising the cotton industry by giving away water and potentially funding infrastructure, I just call it bad economic policy and bad environmental policy."Michael Murray, the general manager of Cotton Australia said the cotton industry does generate economic activity and a "lot of extra employment", and has cast doubt over what he described as "selective" census data.
The ABC reached out to both the NT Farmers Association chief executive Paul Burke and Bruce Connolly, the president of the Northern Cotton Growers Association, but both declined to comment.
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