Traditional owners’ anger over Darwin Waterfront development

The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) in Darwin says it has “very serious concerns” about a Singapore-backed hotel development on the city’s Waterfront.

Traditional Owners have long complained about the development and over the NT Government’s dealings with the developer, SH Darwin.

Larrakia elders have argued the hotel would sit directly opposite a sacred site and would interfere with the Dreamtime story of that area.

Serious concerns

But in May, the NT government amended the Sacred Sites Act to “streamline” the laws.

Labor MLA Chansey Paech has claimed the change only existed “to clear the pathway” for the hotel development.

AAPA chair Bobby Nunggumajbarr told the ABC the board had “very serious concerns about the use of a 20-year-old certificate” being used to progress the hotel project.

This week SH Darwin and the Darwin Waterfront Corporation had been added to the existing authority certificate, which was issued to the NT government in 2004.

“The old Waterfront certificate does not detail a high-rise hotel next to the convention centre or alongside the registered sacred site. Plans for a tower in that location were not part of the original Larrakia consultation,” he said.

Decision fallout

“More recent certificates for development around Stokes Hill, including for the Larrakia Cultural Centre, set strict height limits to protect the sacred site.

“Larrakia custodians have been very clear that the current SH Darwin Hotel design will impact the site.”

The fallout from the decision has already seen one board member, Rachel Perkins, resign.

Tourism and Hospitality Minister Marie-Clare Boothby welcomed the announcement and in a statement said the changes to the Sacred Sites Act were long overdue “to restore certainty for pastoralists and industry, while also strengthening protections for sacred sites”.