Northern Territory Labor's deputy leader has told the federal government about concerns in his electorate over a controversial Defence Housing Australia (DHA) project long opposed by Larrakia Traditional Owners.

The DHA project at Lee Point was supported by Labor during its eight years in power from 2016 to 2024, before new deputy leader Ed Smelt said the party had changed its position on the project and was "very proud to do so" during the Nightcliff by-election this year.

The Binybara/Lee Point development masterplan covers 131 hectares and is planned to deliver about 800 homes, with land clearing for the first stage already completed. The area holds deep cultural and ecological significance, forming part of the Kenbi Dreaming track and providing habitat for the endangered Gouldian finch.

Development is currently paused while a legal challenge brought by Traditional Owner Tibby Quall proceeds.

Earlier this month, Mr Smelt met Finance Minister Katy Gallagher when she visited Darwin, alongside DHA staff, to air concerns raised by constituents, which National Indigenous Times understands are not new, and to call for a moratorium on the development.

Mr Smelt told NT News he showed both Senator Gallagher and the DHA "a lot of the trees, and we talked about the significance of some of that ... particularly the milkwoods they're protecting and identifying".

"We showed her the bushland, and we showed her the views out to the ocean, and that side of it as well," he said.

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In March, Labor leader Selena Uibo told National Indigenous Times that since the election, the opposition had "come to the position that we support the community's calls for a moratorium on the current DHA housing project until the NT Planning Commission completes a comprehensive Area Plan for the whole of Lee Point that properly considers the views of the community and Traditional Owners".

She said that whilst Labor "supports development," it works best when it has "community confidence and planning certainty".

"This way, we can avoid another decade of dispute, legal challenge and political fighting while the site remains stuck in limbo," Ms Uibo said.

The federal government, which, along with DHA, has authority over the site, has remained quiet about the development, which has seen no houses built on the site since the NT election in 2024.

Senator Lidia Thorpe — a longtime critic of the project, who in 2024 tabled a petition in federal Parliament with more than 16,000 signatures calling for Binybara/Lee Point to be returned to the Larrakia people — told this masthead this year the federal government has "so far refused to listen to Traditional Owners" over the development and questioned whether it would be "willing to listen" to its Northern Territory counterparts.

"Larrakia Traditional Owners have opposed this project from the beginning and have not given consent for the destruction of their Country," she said.

"The Albanese government should cancel this project and put a stop to the destruction of Binybara/Lee Point once and for all."

The project has faced criticism since it began. In March 2023, then-environment minister Tanya Plibersek rejected a cultural heritage protection application for the area, saying she was "not satisfied" it contained significant Aboriginal sites.

The same year, the Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation withdrew its support for the project, whilst protests at the site have led to clashes with police as community members attempt to defend the area.

In 2024, DHA began clearing bushland without securing all required approvals and was fined $18,780 by the federal Environment Department.

Last year, the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NTCAT) ruled the clearing of the site must stop until Mr Quall's challenge is resolved.

The Larrakia Danggalaba Elder said the Heritage Council had ignored his earlier warnings about sacred sites and cultural artefacts in the area, including a grindstone and stone tools.

NTCAT found Mr Quall is an owner of the artefacts.