Inkerman Station (Revoked)

Inkerman Station (Revoked) is a savanna fire management project located at Inkerman Station on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, approximately 160km north of Normanton in Queensland's Gulf Country. It was registered in July 2015 and covers an immense 275,583.86 hectares. The Gulf region is predominantly used for large-scale cattle grazing. Inkerman Station itself, bordered by the Nassau and Staaten rivers and the Gulf of Carpentaria, operates as a major Brahman cattle breeding property running up to 12,000 breeder cows. The region experiences a monsoonal tropical savanna climate with highly seasonal rainfall, featuring intense wet summers and long, dry winters. Soils in this coastal Gulf environment typically consist of sandy coastal dunes, marine clays, and alluvial deposits along the river systems.

Savanna fire management projects involve the strategic and planned burning of savanna areas during the early dry season (EDS) to reduce the risk of late dry season (LDS) wildfires. This proactive burning reduces natural fuel loads, which helps prevent the spread and intensity of destructive late-season fires. By shifting the fire regime from hot, unmanaged fires to cooler, controlled early-season fires, the project reduces the overall volume of greenhouse gas emissions, specifically methane and nitrous oxide, released into the atmosphere.

This project is notable for its complicated compliance and regulatory history. It was initially registered subject to obtaining the written consent of relevant interest holders. This condition was briefly removed in May 2016, allowing the project to be issued 34,274 Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) in July 2016, before the condition was reinstated a few months later. In December 2017, the Clean Energy Regulator required the proponent, Country Carbon Pty Ltd, to relinquish those 34,274 ACCUs. Country Carbon appealed the decision through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) but eventually withdrew the application and relinquished the units in August 2019. The project was officially revoked in February 2018 under section 32 of the CFI Rule, and the Regulator later accepted an Enforceable Undertaking from the proponent with effect from May 2020.