Dozers get a green light
Labor to back CLP decision on Kulaluk development
THE Labor Government is preparing to repeat a decision of the former CLP Planning Minister Dave Tollner and clear the way for bulldozers to move in on parts of the Kulaluk Lease.
The NT News has learnt Tourism and Culture Minister Lauren Moss has determined the 300ha lease area in Ludmilla and Coconut Grove should not be granted heritage status. Ms Moss was required to reassess a Heritage Council recommendation in favour of granting heritage status to the lease area after Larrakia Nation challenged Mr Tollner’s previous decision in the Supreme Court.
Larrakia Nation’s lawyers were also preparing to challenge Mr Tollner’s decision on grounds of apprehended bias when, following the 2016 Territory election, government lawyers agreed the new minister would reassess the Heritage Council’s recommendation.
The pending refusal of heritage status is likely to deepen the rift between Larrakia Nation and the site’s lease holders, the Gwala Daraniki Association.
Ms Moss’s office is also pre- paring a scripted public relations campaign with many long-term residents in nearby suburbs firmly opposed to development on the lease site.
Opponents of development there have argued that the site is significant to the history of the Aboriginal land rights movement in the Territory, as well being ecologically significant.
Mr Tollner in 2016 said refusing heritage status over the whole site would allow the Gwala Daraniki Association to secure its economic future.
A recently published court decision shows the association will be paid a $1.5 million lump sum and 10 per cent of all sales if a long-planned property development on the site goes ahead.
The first area slated for development is off Fitzer Drive in Coconut Grove, which has been flagged as a potential site for American retail giant Costco.
It is understood Ms Moss has drafted detailed reasons why the site should not be granted heritage status, including that most of the site – which includes Aboriginal graves and sacred sites – is protected under the Sacred Sites Act and the Planning Act.