Croc-wrangling couple Matt and Kaia Wright say their chopper use is legal

Netflix stars Matt and Kaia Wright have landed themselves in a new legal wrangle over their helicopters.

Outback Wrangler Matt Wright and his wife Kaia. Picture: Instagram

Netflix stars Matt and Kaia Wright have landed themselves in a new legal wrangle over their helicopters including the chopper that crashed, killing Wild Croc Territory cast member Chris “Willow” Wilson last year.

They are facing a hearing in the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal in May after neighbours complained about aircraft activity at one of their Top End properties.

The Development Consent Authority – which sits within the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics – alleges the TV host and his influencer wife “contravened and are contravening” section 75 of the Planning Act by landing and taking off from their Virginia property, 28km south of Darwin.

A spokesman for Matt Wright said the dispute was a “minor issue”.

“Unlike the rest of Australia, in the Northern Territory helicopters are a necessary and regular mode of transport,” he said.

“This is simply a minor and ongoing issue relating to planning rules.”

Papers filed by the couple ­reveal that the dispute started in July 2021 with two written complaints that on June 27, 2021, two helicopters performed five takeoffs and landings; on June 28, one helicopter remained at the property; on July 4, two helicopters landed at the property; and on July 5, two helicopters remained parked at the property.

In the first episode of Wright’s new Netflix series Wild Croc Territory, filmed later that year, the 43-year-old takes off from the property in his Robinson R44 Raven II. In February 2022, that helicopter crashed, killing 34-year-old Wilson, during a crocodile egg-collecting mission in West Arnhem Land.

In February 2019, the NT Planning Scheme was amended to ­introduce a new clause for helicopter landing sites.

In 2022, the couple was sent a “show cause” notice and in late October an enforcement ­notice alleging the Wrights had contravened, and were contravening, the Planning Act by using the property as a “helicopter landing site”.

In November, the croc-wrangling couple applied to have the enforcement action set aside. The Wrights initially claimed they were denied natural justice, that the enforcement was unreasonable on the merits, that the DCA failed to appropriately consider the evidence and that they had “prior use rights”.

In an amended application – filed by their lawyer, David De Silva on Friday – the couple claimed the DCA “erred” in issuing the enforcement notice because their helicopter use “formed part of the permitted land use of the property”.

“At all material times from the time the applicants purchased the property, the applicants utilised helicopters as a means of transportation to and from the property,” the court ­documents said.

“The helicopter use was not an ancillary use of the property. ­ Because the helicopter use was not a separate use of the property, the existing use provisions of the Planning Act are not engaged as there has been no change in the use of the land from residential living.”

Mr De Silva indicated he might seek to cross-examine witnesses at the hearing.

If successful, the Wrights want their legal costs reimbursed.