Defence Housing Australia is building 200 defence homes and 600 housing lots for private sale at Lee Point, in Darwin's northern suburbs. The development has drawn large public protests and dozens of arrests over the past four years, and has now become a source of friction inside federal cabinet and with Territory Labor.
Amid the pressure, Larrakia custodian Helen Secretary has publicly backed the project. She said the registered sacred site Binybara is a reef at the tip of Lee Point, not on the land being cleared.
"The story of Binybara is that that was Dariba Nungallya, Old Man Rock's wife," she said. "Where Defence is doing the clearing, there are no sacred sites within that area of land, so don't use sacred sites to stop development."
Ms Secretary, a 2024 Country Liberal Party candidate, said Defence Housing Australia had worked closely with Larrakia people under cultural heritage monitoring arrangements. "I'm for development, we need more housing. Darwin is a city now, we don't live in a time capsule and development is going to happen," she said.
Her position is directly opposed by Larrakia custodian Lorraine Juwayning Williams, who said the development would impact a sacred area.
Defence Housing Australia told the ABC it had "undertaken extensive consultation" with Larrakia people and would "continue to do so as the project progresses". Ms Secretary also criticised the NT Labor Opposition for changing its position to oppose the development after supporting it while in government.