A police raid on a Queensland cotton farm came two months after detectives launched a formal investigation of alleged fraud involving millions of dollars of federal funds earmarked for Murray-Darling water savings.
Detectives from the major and organised rural crime squad raided Norman Farming at Goondiwindi on Tuesday as part of a probe into the alleged misuse of state-administered grants.
The investigation was launched in early August, following a criminal complaint of fraud and eight months of police analysis of material provided by the Queensland Department of Natural Resources.
Inspector Mick Dowie said the investigation was focused on whether there was “fraudulent documentation” concerning Norman Farming’s use of money from Healthy Headwaters Projects, overseen by Queensland but bankrolled by the commonwealth.
Dowie told the ABC this paperwork “may indicate that works or machinery or fuel was used for improving irrigation under that project, when in fact it may have been used for general farming, for example”.
Norman Farming, operated by one-time cotton grower of the year John Norman, has received at least $28m in funding for eight Healthy Headwaters projects, according to the ABC.
The Department of Natural Resources sought police advice on the matter in late 2016.
Last week the department wrote to nearby landholder and irrigator Chris Lamey saying it had “not been able to substantiate a connection” between the Healthy Headwaters program and his complaint about works on Norman’s Goondiwindi property.
The complaint alleged that money earmarked for improving flows at the top of the ailing, nationally-significant Murray-Darling river system was instead used for earthworks to corral water supply on the Goondwindi farm.
Lamey, other locals and the NSW Environmental Defenders Office have queried the Queensland government’s oversight of the water savings projects, saying proponents’ self-assessments and outcomes are not properly checked.
The office of the natural resources minister, Anthony Lynham, wrote to Lamey several months after his department’s referral to police to say it found “no material concerns”.
“The department was unable to identify any included floodplain works or structure that were illegal or would detrimentally interfere with floodplain flow,” Lynham’s office wrote.
The federal government has been aware of the allegations since last year.
The ABC reported that a senior adviser to the deputy prime minister and minister for water resources, Barnaby Joyce, asked his department to check with the Queensland government on whether there was an audit in place to confirm money was spent on its “intended purpose”.
Norman did not respond to a request to comment on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Lynham declined to comment.
