At OBE Organic, our story and our global reputation has been built on supplying some of the world’s best clean and green organic beef, sourced from a pristine environment – the naturally irrigated floodplains of the Lake Eyre Basin’s free-flowing rivers.
Australia has the largest organic agricultural area (35.7 million hectares) in the world, followed by Argentina (4.1 million hectares) and France (2.8 million hectares). 1
The Lake Eyre Basin is arguably the world’s largest, and most valuable region for organic beef production in the world. Certified organic livestock are free to roam in an environment free from harsh chemicals or pollutants. Pastoralism continues to be the backbone of the local communities and beef and livestock exports are critical to Queensland’s export economy, representing $6.30 billion in export value in 2022-23. 2
Compromised water quality and/or the disruption of natural flows in the Lake Eyre Basin has the potential to have devastating and widespread economic and social consequences, in addition to the environmental impact.
Protecting our rivers and floodplains is a matter of national importance for all Australians and we welcomed the opportunity to make a submission to the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement.
Our Production Region
OBE Organic sources its certified organic livestock from family farmers across the Lake Eyre Basin’s Channel Country. Floodwaters naturally irrigate vast areas of the Channel Country and cattle feed on over 250 species of native grasses and forbs.
The Lake Eyre Basin is globally recognised for its significant and unique environment. In 2014 the Lake Eyre Basin partnership won the National River Prize and then in 2015 went on to win the International River Prize, the world’s most prestigious water conservation award, for helping protect the Lake Eyre Basin.
Our cattle are sourced from one of the purest and most remote parts of Australia and it’s why we have a strong interest in the future protection and management of the Lake Eyre Basin’s rivers and Channel Country floodplains in Queensland.
We urge the Queensland Government to strengthen protections for the Lake Eyre Basin rivers and their Channel Country floodplains.
OBE Organic takes its commitment to people, animals, the environment and our unique product very seriously. We urge the Queensland Government to do the same by strengthening protections for the Lake Eyre Basin rivers and their Channel Country floodplains. Significant improvements are required to current regulations to make them fit for purpose for oversight of all the current and future activities of the resource industry, from exploration through to production.
OBE Organic supports the current restrictions on large-scale irrigation, broadacre cropping and open cut mining within parts of the rivers and floodplain areas of the Lake Eyre Basin. However, this protection is limited to very small portions of the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin.
We are concerned that most of the floodplain and upper river catchment areas in Queensland’s Lake Eyre Basin are not protected from large-scale irrigation, open-cut mining, dams (excluding for stock and domestic use) and broadacre cropping.
Special protection is required for more of Queensland’s Lake Eyre Basin’s rivers and floodplains. More activities should be excluded from particularly sensitive parts of the Lake Eyre Basin River system which are not currently offered protection by the Queensland Government.
Current regulations do not account for the cumulative impact of resource exploration and extraction in the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin. Future river flows into Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, in South Australia are not adequately protected by current regulation.
We encourage the Queensland Government manage their portion of the Lake Eyre Basin with a whole of basin perspective through new regulatory safeguards. Everyone needs to be conscious of our obligations downstream.
Protecting our rivers and floodplains is a matter of national importance for all Australians and we appreciate the opportunity to make a submission to the Queensland Lake Eyre Basin Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement.
1] Global Organic Farmland and Market Continued to Grow in 2021 | IFOAM
