{"id":522910,"date":"2026-03-06T17:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/522910\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:16:20","slug":"labor-flips-against-lee-point-development-ahead-of-nightcliff-by-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/522910\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor flips against Lee Point development ahead of Nightcliff by-election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labor’s candidate for the Nightcliff by-election says the party has changed its position on the controversial Lee Point housing development and now supports a moratorium on further works.<\/p>\n

Defence Housing Australia (DHA) is planning to build a residential housing complex at Lee Point in Darwin’s north, near Nightcliff, but the project has faced long-term opposition from environmentalists and traditional owners.<\/p>\n

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The masterplan for Lee Point is spread across 131 hectares and is designed to accommodate 800 new homes, with land clearing for the project’s first stage completed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lee<\/p>\n

Land clearing for the first stage of Lee Point has starte. (ABC News: Roxanne Fitzgerald)<\/p>\n

Throughout its eight years in government between 2016 and 2024, Territory Labor supported development at Lee Point.<\/p>\n

What you need to know about the Nightcliff by-election on this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n

Residents living in Darwin’s northern suburbs of Nightcliff, Rapid Creek and parts of Coconut Grove will be heading to the polls this Saturday to vote in a by-election. Here’s what you need to know.<\/p>\n

But during an ABC Radio Darwin debate ahead of Saturday’s by-election for the progressive seat, Labor’s candidate Ed Smelt said the party’s position had changed.<\/p>\n

“We have [changed position] and we’re very proud to do so,” he said.<\/p>\n

“That was the feedback we had from the community, was that we didn’t get that right in the last term of government.<\/p>\n

“Working with the Labor team, led very strongly by Selena Uibo, we are bringing these new policies to the fore and we’re listening to the community and we’re acting on that.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ed Smelt says Labor has changed its policy position on Lee Point from “listening to the community”. (ABC News: Aidan Daly)<\/p>\n

Mr Smelt \u2014 a current City of Darwin councillor \u2014 said he had previously voted for a council motion to freeze construction at Lee Point in 2021, although the City of Darwin has no jurisdiction over the land.<\/p>\n

During the debate, independent candidate for Nightcliff Phil Scott applauded Labor’s change of position.<\/p>\n

“Can I just say, bravo,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t think I was going to hear that. If you are not supporting the Lee Point development going ahead, that is a significant change.<\/p>\n

“It is significant that you’ve listened to the community on that and I would just like to share gratitude to you and Labor for seeing wisdom.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Phil Scott applauded Labor’s changed stance on Lee Point. (ABC News: Aidan Daly)<\/p>\n

Mr Scott and Greens candidate for Nightcliff Suki Dorras-Walker are opposed to development proceeding at Lee Point.<\/p>\n

The Country Liberal Party (CLP) government supports the Lee Point development, though its by-election candidate Anjan Paudel did not take part in the debate due to illness.<\/p>\n

Dorras-Walker to stick with Greens policies<\/p>\n

Saturday’s by-election was triggered by the resignation of Greens MLA Kat McNamara, who quit for health reasons last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Kat<\/p>\n

Kat McNamara resigned as MLA for Nightcliff for health reasons. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)<\/p>\n

Midway through her 18 month-stint in NT parliament, McNamara supported tougher bail legislation introduced by the government on urgency<\/a> following the fatal stabbing of a Nightcliff supermarket owner.<\/p>\n

Although her position went against Greens party policy, McNamara said she supported the bill because the Nightcliff community wanted immediate action following the stabbing.<\/p>\n

Territory Labor never should have lost Nightcliff<\/a><\/p>\n

Territory Labor lost the previously safe seat of Nightcliff as it was bundled out of government. Does it deserve to win the seat back?<\/p>\n

During the ABC Radio Darwin debate on Friday, Ms Dorras-Walker was asked whether she would depart from the Greens’ policy positions on crime if they were not consistent with what the Nightcliff community wanted.<\/p>\n

She responded by saying she “absolutely” would stick with the Greens’ positions on crime and community safety.<\/p>\n

“The bail reforms are \u2026 a kneejerk reaction to well-founded fear in our community that doesn’t make anyone safer in the long run, and it’s resulted in record-high prison population, and we know that this does nothing for long-term safety of the community,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got a suite of policies that we’ve been developing in consultation with the community and experts that I’m taking to this by-election.<\/p>\n

“Long-term solutions is what I’m interested in, absolutely listening to the community while I do that.<\/p>\n

“I’m talking to people every day about these policies and that’s what they’re electing me on.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Suki Dorras-Walker says she will stick to Greens policy if elected. (ABC News: Aidan Daly)<\/p>\n

Ms Dorras-Walker said the NT had the worst protections for renters in the country, which she would advocate to change if elected.<\/p>\n

“I’m ready to speak up for better rental protections and rent controls that give renters certainty about when and by how much their rent will go up,” she said.<\/p>\n

During the debate, Mr Scott said if he was elected, he would “champion” a small business forum in Nightcliff.<\/p>\n

“That focuses on how the vast resources of government at our disposal can be better invested into supporting local businesses first,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Pushing for government spending to back territory businesses, and demanding transparency when it doesn’t.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labor’s candidate for the Nightcliff by-election says the party has changed its position on the controversial Lee Point…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[260586,64,63,143872,243134,260584,44,193190,260581,260582,260583,1098,260580,239403,260585,243135],"class_list":["post-522910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-abc-radio-darwin","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dha","tag-ed-smelt","tag-lee-point","tag-news","tag-nightcliff","tag-nightcliff-by-election","tag-nightcliff-by-election-candidates","tag-nightcliff-by-election-debate","tag-nt","tag-nt-elections","tag-nt-politics","tag-phil-scott","tag-suki-dorras-walker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}