A court has given the green light to a contentious defence housing development in Darwin, despite opposition from environmentalists and the land’s traditional owners.
In 2019, Defence Housing Australia (DHA) in conjunction with contractor BMD Urban, was given planning approval to clear around 40 percent of the peninsula area at Lee Point, also known as Binybara, in Darwin’s coastal north for an 800-home development.
DHA said the project “will provide much-needed housing for Defence families and the broader Darwin community.”
Darwin is home to thousands of Australian defence personnel across three branches, their families, and around 2,500 United States marines. The navy is based at HMAS Coonawarra, the army operates from Larrakeyah Barracks and Robertson Barracks, and the RAAF has bases at Darwin—320 kilometres southeast at Tindal.
However, the Lee Point project has come under fire from its inception, mainly from local Indigenous leaders who have vowed to protect the area owing to its status as a place of ecological and cultural significance.
Environmentalists joining them in opposition wanted protection for a population of endangered Gouldian finches.
While the first stage of development has been underway since 2019, during a protest on the site in July last year, eight protestors were arrested for trespassing, and after appearing in court were ultimately fined with no convictions recorded after pleading guilty.
In August 2023, an emergency application was lodged soon after to stop the development.
It was issued by the activist Environmental Justice Australia (EJA), and promoted by Larrakia Danggalaba custodian Tibby Quall, and Lorraine Williams, under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Act.
EJA’s senior lawyer Bruce Lindsay stressed in a statement that the Environmental Impact Assessment of the area in 2017 contained “significant problems.”
“Lawyers have submitted that Minister Plibersek should be satisfied that the development will injure and desecrate a significant Aboriginal area containing both tangible and intangible Aboriginal cultural heritage,” Mr. Lindsay said.
Work on the Site Voluntarily Halted
The DHA decided to see how the matter would play out in the court and voluntarily stopped the land clearing until March 31, to give Minister Plibersek time to make her decision.“Based on evidence provided to me and the definitions under law, I was not satisfied there is a significant Aboriginal area within the 132-hectare development area. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Heritage Protection Act only allows me to make a protection declaration within the area of the development put forward for the section 10 application.”
According to EJA lawyer Danya Jacobs, the minister’s decision has not swayed opposition from the Larrakia Danggalaba campaigners, who have “vowed to continue the fight” and are now considering their legal options.
