For the first time, major industries in the Northern Territory will be charged for the water they use, in a policy shift the Environment Minister says is aimed at "bigger industries", not "small businesses and small farmers trying to make a go of it".

Until now, water has been free for major oil and gas companies, mines and irrigated agriculture, while most households pay around $2 a kilolitre, amounting to hundreds of dollars a year.

Water — who controls it and how it has been governed — has long been controversial in the NT, as big industries migrate to the north and a string of massive water allocations with no price tag have been handed out.

"This isn't about discouraging investment," Environment Minister Lauren Moss told the ABC on Friday morning.

"This is just about making sure that we have a fair system.

Read more here.

ABC Katherine / By Roxanne Fitzgerald
Posted Fri 14 Oct 2022 at 5:54pm