The Gulf’s Wasted Water: Queensland’s Quiet Development Failure
Queensland and the Northern Territory are chalk and cheese on development—and the Gulf’s wasted water proves it. An inquiry is overdue.
Queensland sits on one of the most water-rich regions in the country, yet treats it like a state secret. The Gulf is awash with unused water, but try to find a single, transparent figure and you hit a wall of bureaucratic fog.
There is no published total for unused or unallocated water across North Queensland. None. Not because the water doesn’t exist—but because the Queensland Government refuses to aggregate or openly report it.
Instead, Queensland hides behind a technical term: “unallocated water”—water that can be released without impacting existing users. Sounds reasonable. Until you realise they only publish it catchment by catchment, piecemeal, and only when it suits them.
The numbers we do have are damning:
- Flinders–Gilbert catchments: ~636 GL still sitting idle.
- Mitchell catchment: at least 70,000 ML unallocated.
- Entire Gulf region: no total published at all.
No statewide figure. No North Queensland total. No strategic plan that treats water like the economic engine it is.
This is not a data gap. It’s a policy choice.
Now compare that to the Northern Territory.
The NT government just processed 53 competitive applications and delivered targeted funding to strengthen a $1.4 billion primary industries sector. Transparent process. Clear outcomes. Public accountability.
Queensland, by contrast, hoards information, throttles development through opacity, and then wonders why the north stagnates while imports rise and regional communities hollow out.
Water that isn’t measured properly isn’t managed properly.
Water that isn’t allocated transparently isn’t invested productively.
And water that’s allowed to sit unused while food security, regional jobs, and export opportunities wither is not environmental stewardship—it’s economic malpractice.
If Queensland is serious about northern development, it must stop pretending fragmented spreadsheets equal policy.
That means:
- A full, public audit of unused and unallocated water across the Gulf.
- A single consolidated figure, updated annually.
- An independent inquiry into why water-rich regions are development-poor.
Until then, the comparison is brutal and unavoidable:
The NT treats water as an asset.
Queensland treats it as something to hide.
And the Gulf pays the price.
References (for verification):
https://www.digwv.qld.gov.au
https://www.business.qld.gov.au
https://www.centralianadvocate.com.au
https://bit.ly/4989aTK
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