Senator Lidia Thorpe has called on the federal government to cancel the Defence Housing Australia development at Binybara/Lee Point, following a surprising backflip by NT Labor just days before the Nightcliff by-election at the weekend.
Senator Lidia Thorpe has called on the federal government to cancel the Defence Housing Australia development at Binybara/Lee Point, following a surprising backflip by NT Labor just days before the Nightcliff by-election at the weekend.
NT Labor’s candidate announced that the party would no longer support the controversial project, breaking ranks with federal Labor to campaign against the federal-led development in the tightly contested seat.
The project has long been opposed by Larrakia Traditional Owners and environmentalists due to the destruction of sacred sites and critical habitat for endangered species, including the Gouldian finch.
Senator Thorpe has been a vocal opponent of the project, tabling a petition in federal Parliament in 2024 with over 16,000 signatures calling for the land to be returned to the Larrakia people.
Despite ongoing legal challenges, community protests, and now opposition from NT Labor, the federal government continues to pursue the development.
Currently a stop work order exists over the project, after The Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) ordered a halt until a legal challenge by Senior Larrakia Elder Tibby Quall is determined, but DHA has indicated it will recommence work regardless of the outcome later this year.
Last year, Defence Housing Australia was fined by the federal regulator for unlawfully clearing land on the site.
Quotes attributable to Lidia Thorpe, Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent Victorian Senator:
"The opposition to the destruction of Binybara Lee Point has grown to the point that even Territory Labor is calling for a halt to this disastrous project.
"This project, which the Albanese government is responsible for, will destroy Larrakia sacred sites and critical habitat for endangered species like the Gouldian finch.
"Larrakia Traditional Owners have opposed this project from the beginning and have not given consent for the destruction of their Country.
"Now Territory Labor has even broken ranks with their federal colleagues.
"The Albanese government has so far refused to listen to Traditional Owners. Now we’ll see whether they’re willing to listen to their own Labor colleagues in the Northern Territory, who have just campaigned against the project in the Nightcliff by-election.
"The Albanese government should cancel this project and put a stop to the destruction of Binybara Lee Point once and for all.
'It’s up to the community to hold Territory Labor to this position. Too often politicians discover their conscience before an election and lose it again afterwards.
"Territory Labor should now be strongly lobbying their federal colleagues to stop the destruction. I’ll be raising this with Murray Watt, Matt Keogh, and Malarndirri McCarthy, who have the power to cancel this project.
"And I look forward to seeing NT Labor and the Minister for Indigenous Australians protesting with the people against this destructive project"