Water Allocations for Sale or Lease

• The above auction links will go live on the Water Exchange website with varied closing times and days. If a bid is received in the last minute of the auction, it will be extended for an additional two minutes.
• Sunwater is setting a starting bid price of $1000 per megalitre. If a bid is received at or above the starting bid price, the parcel will sell at the final highest priced bid. Bids are made in $5 increments. 
• Buyers are encouraged to register an account with Water Exchange by Wednesday 4 December 2024 if they wish to participate. Customers can register via the Water Exchange website. For assistance with registration, please contact Lincoln Parr on 0419 473 153 or lparr@ruralcowater.com.au.  
• Where possible, Sunwater is auctioning parcel sizes based on the nominal water volumes listed on the Water Allocation Titles held by BWPL. 
• Any subdivision and /or amalgamation of the allocations held by Sunwater required as part of the Auction process will be submitted to the Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water (DRDMW) for processing by Sunwater before any volumes are transferred to the successful bidders.  
• Transaction finalisation timing will be dependent upon subdivision /amalgamation processing times (if required), contracting and title transfer processing times. Any AA’s attributed to the allocations at the time of transaction finalisation will be attributed to the successful bidders’ account(s).  
• Water Allocation Titles may have a defined purpose as either “Any” or “Agriculture”.   A change of purpose is a permitted change under the Burnett Basin Water Management Protocol for allocations with purpose “Any” or “Agriculture” provided the change in purpose results in the allocation being “Any” or “Agriculture”.
• Temporary and permanent trading is permitted in the UBWSS subject to Zone Caps – refer zone cap factsheet. 
• Buyers may apply to DRDMW to change the location of the volumes after the completion of the sale process. Sunwater is not involved in the approval of such applications nor will be responsible for additional costs incurred for this step. Any requested change to location will be subject to scheme zone caps. The Queensland Government publishes the current location of water allocations in the UBWSS on their website, where “capped out” zones can be identified subject to the Burnett Basin Water Management Protocol. 
• Sunwater encourages buyers to engage a solicitor to assist in the sales process and to reduce processing times. 
• Interested buyers who don’t have access to the internet can contact Water Exchange so that alternative bidding arrangements can be made. 
• Buyers who do not have a water offtake can contact Sunwater on 13 15 89, Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm to work through the water offtake requirements. 
• The sale terms and conditions that apply to parcels purchased are contained in the Contract of Sale of Water Allocation. The ongoing supply terms and conditions are contained in the River Supply Contract. 
• Where applicable, security is required with the purchase of an allocation. For irrigation customers, security requirements are referred to in the River Supply contract (linked above). For non-irrigation customers, please contact the Sunwater Customer Support team to discuss security requirements. 

Following auction closing, Sunwater will complete the Contract of Sale with the particulars of the sale and will send to the buyer(s) for signing as well as an invoice for the deposit amount of ten per cent of the purchase price. The buyer will need to return to Sunwater the signed Contract of Sale together with payment of the deposit.

The buyer will also be required to:

• complete a Sunwater customer profile form for new customers only.
• all business or entity customers will be required to supply an ASIC search completed within the last six months.
• complete a Titles Registry Form 1 Transfer and Form 24 Property information (Transfer).
• submit to Sunwater the completed original forms 1 and 24 for execution.
• sign (if required) and return the River Supply Contract/s provided by Sunwater.
• arrange for the Contract of Sale and the original Forms 1 & 24 to be assessed for transfer duty and for the transfer duty to be paid 
• submit to Titles Queensland the required lodgement forms (executed and stamped forms 1 and 24) and Notice to Registrar, issued by Sunwater, upon receipt of payment for remaining allocation purchase price.
• supply to Sunwater the Registration Confirmation Statement (RCS).
• based on parcel(s) purchased the successful bidder may choose to complete a separate subdivision or amalgamation process. For more information, please contact Sunwater customer support on 13 15 89.

Once Sunwater executes and returns the supply contracts to the buyer, the buyer is responsible for submitting all executed transfer forms to Titles Queensland. After the buyer receives the completed RCS from Titles Queensland and provides the RCS to Sunwater, water supply can commence.

Buyers are advised to allow up to 75 working days from the close of the auction to water supply commencement for this process to be completed. This timeframe may be extended if a subdivision or amalgamation is requested and is inclusive of the 30-day settlement period. Sunwater will endeavour to reduce these timeframes where possible.

Sunwater encourages buyers to engage a solicitor to assist in the sales process and to reduce processing times. A solicitor can provide a solicitor’s undertaking to Sunwater so that signed transfer documents (forms 1 & 24) can be released to the buyer for stamping only before the final invoice for the balance of the purchase price is paid, otherwise the signed transfer documents will not be released to the buyer until the final invoice payment is confirmed.