Larrakia Nation’s Jerome Cubillo calls for Lee Point project to be scrapped

Larrakia Nation has called for a permanent halt to a controversial housing development in Darwin’s north after the developer applied the brakes until next year. Read the reaction.

Larrakia Nation has called for a permanent halt to Defence Housing Australia’s Lee Point project after the developer announced it would suspend its plans until March next year.

Larrakia Nation chairman Jerome Cubillo welcomed the DHA’s decision, announced Thursday, saying he hoped to use the time to work with stakeholders to find an alternative site for the project.

His comments come as industry leaders raised concerns about the implications of DHA’s backdown for ongoing business investment in the Territory while voicing frustration that the precedent could make doing business in the NT even harder.

Protesters rally at Lee Point July.

Mr Cubillo and Larrakia Nation chief executive Michael Rotumah met with DHA chief executive Barry Jackson in Canberra this week where they were told the project had been put on hold.

They also met with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek who has twice stalled the 800-home residential development, once to develop a preservation plan for the migratory Gouldian finch and again last month, after Larrakia Nation raised cultural concerns about the site.

“We’d prefer to work with DHA to find another alternative site that would be more appropriate and we’d prefer to see that land returned to the hands of Larrakia for us to be able to maintain as a culturally significant and important site,” Mr Cubillo said.

Opposition to the Lee Point development grew when the Gouldian finch arrived last year.

“We want to ensure we find a middle ground to ensure we support DHA to develop the critical housing we need in Darwin.”

Mr Cubillo said the Halikos Group’s Northcrest development at Berrimah would be an alternative site for DHA to consider as well as proposed residential developments at Holtze and Kowandi.

He acknowledged Larrakia Nation had changed its mind after a 2021 decision to support the project.

“What we found was not enough appropriate consultation was done,” he said.

“Not enough effort was made to get to the right individuals and to get to Larrakia family members with appropriate knowledge.

“We’re not averse to development and want to support the Territory’s major industries and private sector to ensure they’ve got business certainty, but we’re saying learn the lessons from Lee Point and learn from us earlier where future development is earmarked.”

Housing Industry Association executive director Luis Espinoza. Picture: Julianne Osborne

In 2018, the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority issued an authority certificate for development in the Lee Point area.

It showed no sacred sites within the development area and two registered sites outside it, with AAPA recommending DHA work with Larrakia people to preserve an area of cultural significance within the site.

NT Chamber of Commerce chief executive Greg Ireland said he was surprised to learn DHA had backed down.

“My understanding was all the required compliances had been taken care of but we’re seeing more interruptions, hurdles and challenges to developments in and around this region,” he said.

“Housing is one of our key shortages and an enabler for future growth and defence is investing billions into the region and they’ll need housing as much as the private sector and it will make it harder and more difficult to do business in the Territory.”

The NTCC’s Greg Ireland said the delays could make it ‘more difficult to do business in the Territory’.

Housing Industry Association NT executive director Luis Espinoza said while it was DHA’s decision, concerns about the project should have been flagged when it was first designated in 2015.

“The news couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Northern Territory,” he said

“We’re slowly coming out of the long pipeline of housing construction generated through Covid and the government’s stimulation packages and those businesses who were depending on the work this project would provide but will have to stop work and wait anxiously for outcomes, which may yet stall further.”

Environmental Justice Australia, has sought an application to stop the project on behalf of TOs from the Batcho family under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Heritage Protection Act.

On Friday, the EJA congratulated Larrakia elders Tibby Quall and Lorraine Williams for their efforts to safeguard “this irreplaceable cultural asset”.

Defence Housing backs down on major Lee Point development

The on-again off-again Lee Point Defence housing project is off again.

Defence Housing Australia announced Thursday it had “voluntarily stopped work until the end of March”.

In a terse website statement, DHA said it would work on “cultural” issues around the project.

“DHA has made the decision to voluntarily stop work at Lee Point until March 31 2024,” the statement said.

“We will be using this time to work with relevant government agencies and respond to the application regarding Aboriginal cultural heritage at the site.”

The announcement has been made on the eve of the Garma Festival, a revered celebration of Indigenous culture held at Gulkula, in the Northern Territory.

The Lee Point project, which was approved in 2015, first caught the attention of green protesters last year when the migratory Gouldian finch lobbed on site.

Soon after the Australian Labor Party was elected to office, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek ordered a freeze on the project while a plan to accommodate the colourful bird was put together.

The new plan was unveiled in June and included a 50m buffer zone around a waterhole the Gouldian finch is believed to inhabit.

When work began last month, a small number of disruptive protesters blockaded the site.

But the project turning point came when Larrakia traditional owners, who had previously approved the development, performed a 180-degree backflip and decided they opposed the development.

On July 22 Larrakia Nation issued a statement saying objections by Larrakia Traditional Owners to the project had turned them against the residential housing project.

It cited the involvement of prominent elders Lorraine Williams, Tibby Quall and Eric Fejo in forcing the belated change of heart because, they said, “significant areas of cultural heritage” were located on the site.

Approval certificates by the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority were issued in 2018 which set out conditions under which development could proceed while protecting sacred sites.

The certificate showed there were no sacred sites within the development area, although two registered sacred sites were “in the vicinity” of the development.

One of those, Old Man Rock, is four-and-a-half kilometres offshore in Darwin Harbour and another, on Lee Point but outside the development zone, is “linked: to Old Man Rock according to Larrakia Development Corporation chairman Nigel Brown.

A spokeswoman for the NT government said it respected DHA’s decision.

“We respect the decision of DHA to pause this project while they work through the cultural concerns that have emerged.”

DHA proposed building 800 new homes across 131 hectares at Lee Point, which was previously a Defence establishment and had been earmarked for suburban residential development for decades under Darwin’s town plan.

Originally published as Larrakia Nation’s Jerome Cubillo calls for Lee Point project to be scrapped