Interview with Nat Tencic, ABC Alice Springs Drive

NAT TENCIC, HOST: Let's talk water now. Folks visiting and working at Uluṟu Kata Tjuṯa National Park are closer to a cleaner and more secure water supply, as the Yulara Water Project is about to enter it’s final stage of construction. The $23 million project will deliver three megalitres of drinkable water to Yulara and surrounds every day, which the Government says will mean another 60 houses could be built in the resort town, allowing for greater investment at one of Australia's tourism icons.

The project is being jointly funded by the Federal and NT Governments, as well as Voyages Tourism Australia which runs the resort at Yulara. Senator Murray Watt is the Federal Minister for Environment and Water, and he joins me now. Good afternoon.

MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Hi, Nat. Good to be with you. NAT TENCIC: Senator Watt, how long has this project been in the pipeline for now?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, so, this project started back in 2024 and it is a several year project to reach completion, but it's really pleasing that we've now got three out of the four stages being completed. So the work we've done to date has completed a new production bore, building a new water treatment compound, and constructing two two-megalitre water storage tanks - so really good to see that progress.

As you said in the intro, stage four is now in planning, and that's about building a new water treatment plant to support even more safe and drinkable water to be provided to the township of Yulara. It's a really important investment to make sure that there's water security for the Yulara community, especially given the large and growing tourism numbers that we expect to see for those amazing national parks.

NAT TENCIC: So, this project will supply water to tourists and workers that support the efforts at Yulara there. Will this project also include a water supply to the community of Mutitjulu? MURRAY WATT: This project in itself won't, but we're certainly doing other work with Mutitjulu around water security.

But this project is particularly focused on the needs of Yulara, the growing community there and the growing tourism operations there as well. NAT TENCIC: It's a joint venture that's being funded by the Federal Government, the NT Government and Voyages. What's the split on that one?

MURRAY WATT: The majority of the money has come from the Australian Government, but we've been really pleased to see some investment by those two partners as well. I think, certainly the approach that we tend to take when we're investing in water infrastructure is asking the relevant state or territory government to (contribute), and we've seen that here from the NT Government.

And having Voyages contribute, I think, as well is important - they're obviously going to generate a benefit from having increased tourism there. And I think it's only fair for taxpayers that they contribute to the cost of this as well, which they are doing. NAT TENCIC: And when is the project due for completion?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah so final completion will be in 2029 but, as I say, that's particularly focusing on that fourth and final stage which is about building that new water treatment plant. The work that we've done to date are really good steps along the way and will make a difference in terms of water security. But we've got to the point with Yulara that we do need to see that new water treatment plant, and that's the final stage that we're now working on.

NAT TENCIC: So, we haven't been able to meet capacity or demand before? MURRAY WATT: There has certainly been pressure on the water supply at Yulara for some time now. We know that the increased tourism that we're seeing, particularly for Uluṟu Kata Tjuṯa National Park, has been really stretching the water infrastructure system.

And we want to make sure that people both living there and visiting there do have access to safe, drinkable water. It's something that our Government's been investing on a lot in remote communities generally. You know, our view is that no matter where you live in Australia, you should have access to safe, drinkable water and that applies to Yulara as it does to a range of other remote communities that we've been investing in as well.

NAT TENCIC: Well, let's talk about some of those remote communities, and I'm glad you brought that up, Senator Murray Watt, the Federal Minister for Environment and Water. There are many other remote communities in the NT, as I'm sure you're aware, that don't have water that meets the Australian drinking guidelines. There was a recent report from the Water Services Association of Australia that found that the NT had had 36 homes in six remote communities that had unsafe levels of fluoride, barium, uranium, antimony in their water.

What is the plan to provide safe, clean drinking water to some of those communities? MURRAY WATT: Yeah look, as I say, as a statement of principle we do want to make sure that no matter where people live, they've got access to safe, drinkable water. And we haven't seen the investment in years gone by in water infrastructure for those communities to deliver what people deserve.

All up, our Government's investing nearly $200 million to support about 43 First Nations water infrastructure projects across the country, that's helping more than 110 communities nationwide. And even in the Northern Territory there’s about 19 First Nations water security projects where we've invested over $130 million. So that has been a priority, that's everywhere from Milingimbi to Maningrida, both in the Top End of course, through to Yuendumu as well.

I acknowledge that there's a lot more work to be done there, but even this investment that we're making really goes a lot further than what we've seen from federal governments in the past. NAT TENCIC: Yeah. How is progress on some of those projects going, particularly for people in the Centre and the Barkly?

Are there tenders out for construction? Where are they at? MURRAY WATT: My understanding, generally speaking, is that we're making good progress on those projects.

I don't have the specifics in front of me of every one of those individual projects, but certainly my department can tell you that we do ride them to make sure that we're making good progress. And the information that I’ve had so far is that we are, in general terms. NAT TENCIC: How have your conversations been going with the NT Government about these projects and how are they involved in seeing out these water supply projects for remote communities?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, broadly speaking, we've been happy with that engagement with the Northern Territory Government. As I've said, we simply cannot deliver these kind of projects in these remote communities unless if we do see cooperation between both levels of government. And broadly speaking, we've been satisfied with how that's been going.

NAT TENCIC: What are we building out in these communities - so water treatment, filters, bores? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, it's a mixture of things - in some communities, it's bores. So for example, we’ve got a program of bore works across 10 different communities in the Northern Territory.

There's bore drilling going on at places like Robinson River, at Yuelamu. We've got bore equipping going on at Hermannsburg and other communities as well. So, every community is a little bit different, but the work that's going on basically involves either drilling new bores or equipping existing bores with some of the components that they need to connect them to the water network generally.

But then of course, there are other communities where the investment isn't so much focused on bores, but it's about water treatment plants and other water supply options as well - pipeline improvements, there's a range of different sort of projects that are underway. But as I say, what it recognises is that those remote communities do have particular needs. Many of them are in very dry communities, and we need to make sure that the infrastructure is there to ensure people do have access to that safe water that they deserve.

NAT TENCIC: For sure. And the NT- an issue that's been pointed out to me is that the NT actually lacks territory-wide safe drinking water laws and licensing outside major regional centres, which means there's no enforceable drinking water standards in these communities apparently. Do you think that should change?

MURRAY WATT: Look, I must admit I'm not aware of that, but again, as a general principle we do want to make sure that there are good, solid, safe drinking standards for water regardless of where people are living. Just because you live in a bush community doesn't mean that you don't deserve the best possible water. Obviously, it is a more complicated exercise to deliver some of that quality of water in particularly remote, dry communities, and that is a challenge.

But as a principle, that's something that we want to certainly work towards moving ahead. NAT TENCIC: Absolutely. And in many communities too, bottled water is trucked in as the main drinking water supply.

Should building water infrastructure for these communities also be made a priority? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, again, we want to be able to equip these communities with the water infrastructure that they need to be able to generate the water they need locally. Of course, it's an expensive option to be having to truck in water supplies, bottled water, for these communities, so if we can be making these investments over time that will reduce those sorts of long-term costs.

But equally, we recognise that we can't commit to delivering that sort of water supply and water infrastructure in every community overnight - it's something that we've got to keep working towards. But even the fact that, as a government, we've made those investments in so many different communities is a big step forward. I can assure you listeners that Marion Scrymgour, as the Local Member, is regularly on my case about the need to do more on this - Malarndirri McCarthy as well.

They've made very clear to me that ensuring these communities have good safe drinking water has got to be a priority for our Government, and that's why we want to keep delivering on these kind of things. NAT TENCIC: You're hearing from Senator Murray Watt, Federal Minister for Environment and Water. And Murray, I just have one more question for you.

When we're talking about water security in the Northern Territory, well, 12 hyperscale data centre projects are underway in the Territory. And there's been talk about energy provision from the Federal Government of trying to figure out who's going to provide the energy and how they're going to get that energy to power these data centres. But is the Federal Government doing anything about ensuring our water security amidst the demands at these facilities?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, certainly making sure that ensuring new data centre development doesn't overly put demand on energy and water systems is a really high priority for the Albanese Government. I've been working really closely with the Energy Minister, Chris Bowen, to ensure that we set really good, strong standards for both energy and water. When it comes to water, the challenge we have is that data centres do require water to cool their systems because of the huge amounts of energy they use.

And we have just recently set some strong national standards that require data centres to minimise their water use, to use the most water-efficient technology they possibly can, to use recycled water when they can. And when new water infrastructures got to be built to service them, we are going to be expecting data centres to contribute to the cost of that. As a government, we do think that there are benefits for Australia in building data centres here - not just the jobs but from a national security perspective as well.

But we don't want to see that come at the cost of Australians, whether they're here in the Northern Territory or elsewhere. So those strong standards will be required of data centres, and we'll be legislating to impose them over the next few months as well. NAT TENCIC: Would that mean that the Government might have to - or the NT Government might have to - wind back some of those projects?

Because as you're saying, a lot of these- it's hard to access water in the desert, and a lot of remote communities don't have proper access to water. Do we realistically have enough water here to run 12 hyperscale data centres? MURRAY WATT: Well we think that it's going to be really important to locate these data centres in the right locations where they do have access to, particularly, renewable energy sources and also to water sources as well.

So, what we're doing as a federal government is setting those strong national standards that we expect state and territory and local governments to comply with. At a federal level, we're not going to be specifying that a particular data centre has got to use these many litres a day or anything like that - that is the role of state and territory governments and, in some cases, local governments.

But what we are trying to do is put in place a floor, and we would certainly expect the Northern Territory Government, along with every other state and territory government, to follow those standards and make sure that they're putting the interests of their own residents first. As I say, we think that data centres do have a lot to offer, but it can't come at the expense of Territorians or residents of other states and territories as well.

NAT TENCIC: Would the Federal Government step in if NT Government decisions are being made that do mean that we are running out of water for our population? MURRAY WATT: Well the way we would expect these standards to work at the national level is that they set a floor that state and territory governments cannot go below. We want to set those minimum standards.

We would then be requiring state and territories to comply with them. And of course, we can take action if that's not being complied with. NAT TENCIC: Senator Watt, thanks so much for your time this afternoon.

MURRAY WATT: No worries, Nat. Good to talk. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.