Indigenous heritage and development: the fight over Darwin's Kulaluk lease

A bitter dispute over a 300-hectare tract of land has culminated in a Northern Territory government decision not to award it it what would have been the first Aboriginal heritage listing in Darwin

It's a site that supporters say should be spoken of "in the same breath as the Wave Hill walk-off", a 300-hectare tract of city-adjacent coastal land, which holds a central role in the history of Indigenous land rights.

On Friday, a bitter dispute over attempts to heritage list the Kulaluk lease, less than 20km from the Darwin city centre, seemed to be decided as the Northern Territory planning minister, Dave Tollner, rejected a recommendation by the Heritage Council to list it.