Tasmanian Irrigation vows to stay on track after EPBC breaches

Tasmanian Irrigation has been called out by the Greens during Government Estimates earlier this week for breaches of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act linked to the Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme.

The committee heard that five breaches occurred because the contractor repeatedly worked outside the approved permit corridor set out in the EPBC authorisation.

Greens member for Clark Helen Murnet said that the breaches were buried in a footnote in TI’s Annual Report and its response to the breaches was also hidden from clear view, placed on the Tasmania Irrigation website under a title so vague that most people could never find it. 

“These breaches raise serious concerns about the Liberal Government’s environmental oversight of its GBEs,” she said.

“Tasmanian Irrigation stated that the permit conditions for this project were extremely strict, which makes it even more concerning that five breaches were allowed to occur.”
 
These breaches are particularly troubling given Tasmanian Irrigation are about to embark on their biggest and most environmentally sensitive project yet, the Greater South East Irrigation Scheme.”

TI has downplayed the breaches, saying it is committed to complying with all environmental legislative permit conditions across all operations and that the breaches were largely administrative in nature, such as failing to publish a strategy on the website within 20 days of permit approval.

It also confirmed that no environmental harm occurred as a result of the breaches, and no threatened species were impacted, however the breaches were treated seriously and corrective actions were immediately implemented.

Tasmanian Irrigation CEO Mike Sylvester said the company has an outstanding record in developing major infrastructure projects around Tasmania.

 “We are absolutely committed to abiding by permit conditions put in place by regulatory authorities,” Mr Sylvester said.

 “However, we recognise that there have been several instances where our permit conditions were not fully complied with and we immediately put up our hand to report these breaches.

 “We have made several improvements in our project oversight, specifically relating to communication between our head contractor and their subcontractors, to minimise opportunities for any further breaches to the 58 permit conditions in place for the Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme.

” The $217.9 million Northern Midlands Irrigation Scheme remains on track to deliver up to 25,500 megalitres of high-surety irrigation water for the 2026/27 irrigation season, enabling farmers to boost productivity, intensify operations and diversify into high-value enterprises, providing the Tasmanian economy with annual returns estimated at $54 million.”