Proponent: Southern Cross Agri Pty Ltd
Overview
Southern Cross Agri Pty Ltd is proposing to develop Stage 1 of an agricultural farm and associated farm infrastructure on Spirit Hills Station (parts of NT portions 1584 and 3221) in the Keep River area of the Northern Territory, adjacent to the Western Australian border.
The proposed action includes:
- clearing a minimum of 3,269 hectares of native vegetation within a development envelope of 4,525 hectares
- construction of water storage facilities (200 hectares footprint, 10 gigalitres capacity) to retain harvested stormwater (including irrigation tailwater) for on-farm irrigation
- development of supporting infrastructure, including water distribution and drainage networks, levee banks, river crossings, storage facilities and worker accommodation, to service farming operations
- rotational farming of annual crops
The proposed action is intended to operate over 100 years.
Potential future farm expansion, and/or surface water diversion from Lake Argyle (Western Australia) are not included in this proposed action.
The NTEPA suspended the assessment under Environment Protection regulation 88 (b) on 22 October 2025.
Stage 1: Referral
NT EPA notices
- Notice of decision to accept referral for standard assessment – 6 August 2025 PDF (537.8 KB)
- Notice of decision and statement of reasons – standard assessment by EIS – 22 October 2025 PDF (88.1 KB)
- Notice of decision on terms of reference - 22 October 2025 PDF (65.4 KB)
Public consultation
Statutory notice (13 August 2025)
The NT EPA published a statutory notice on 13 August 2025 inviting public comment on the proponent initiated EIS referral submitted by the Southern Cross Agri Pty Ltd to develop Stage 1 of the Sweetwater Agricultural Development project.
Interested persons were invited to make a submission by 24 September 2025. The NT EPA published the notice in accordance with regulation 52(1) of the Environment Protection Regulations 2020.
Documents – Proponent initiated EIS referral
| Referral | Type |
|---|---|
| Referral form | PDF 1.4 MB |
| Referral report | PDF 10.1 MB |
| Attachment B - Proof of tenure | PDF 83.4 KB |
| Attachment C - Proponent draft terms of reference | PDF 1.5 MB |
| Attachment D - Proponent statement of reasons | PDF 765.3 KB |
| Attachment E - Protected matters report | PDF 73.2 KB |
| Attachment F - National MNES distribution mapping | PDF 2.5 MB |
| Attachment G - Typhonium survey 2025 | PDF 8.0 MB |
Submissions received on the proponent initiated EIS referral
Terms of reference
| Terms of reference for an environmental impact statement | Type |
|---|---|
| Terms of reference for an EIS - issued 11 May 2026 | PDF 591.4 KB |