THE HON DAVID LITTLEPROUD MP
Shadow Minister for Emergency Management
Shadow Minister for Tourism
Federal Member for Maranoa
12 August 2026
LITTLEPROUD SECURES COMMITMENT ON CHERRABAH BOTTLED WATER EXPORT REFORM
Federal Member for Maranoa David Littleproud has secured a commitment from the Albanese Government to consider regulating bottled water exports, following months of advocacy over the proposed Cherrabah Resort water extraction operation near Elbow Valley.
The move follows correspondence with Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins, after the foreign-owned resort sought to extract and bottle up to 96 million litres of groundwater a year from the Stanthorpe Adamellite aquifer in a region already living under drought and water restrictions.
Minister Collins has now confirmed the Commonwealth is progressing broader export assurance reforms that would bring a range of currently unregulated goods, including food and beverages, into a new regulatory framework, a category that could capture bottled water for the first time.
Mr Littleproud said the update was a direct result of his sustained pressure on the Government.
“Back in March, I asked the Minister to stop this water being shipped overseas. She told me bottled water wasn’t a prescribed good, so her powers didn’t apply,” Mr Littleproud said.
“So I went back and said: if the power doesn’t exist, create it. Now, for the first time, the Government has confirmed it’s looking at doing exactly that.”
Mr Littleproud said the fight was far from over, with the reforms still requiring an evidence base and formal legislative rules before they take effect.
“This is a first step, not a finish line. I’ll keep pushing until bottled water is treated the same as any other resource being pulled out of the ground and shipped offshore,” he said.
The advocacy sits alongside a separate state-level campaign, with Mr Littleproud also welcoming the Queensland Government’s review of the original Cherrabah water licence, after Southern Downs Regional Council refused the company’s development application, a decision now under appeal.
