Sacred site an ongoing concern for Darwin waterfront hotel proposal

A hotel proposal granted planning approval a few months ago at Darwin Convention Centre, situated nearby an Indigenous sacred site, is facing new-found scrutiny from Traditional Owners, after developers were recently granted a new power to proceed construction of the project without further First Nations consultation.

The 11-storey hotel proposal at Stokes Hill, designed by South Australian practice Pact Architects, is part of the broader redevelopment of Darwin's waterfront.

Developer CEL Australia lodged an application for certification with the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) in August 2024. According to the AAPA, this process involves consultation with Aboriginal custodians to determine "the conditions for carrying out specific works on an area of land or water near sacred sites." However, earlier this year, NT News reported that Larrakia custodians expressed concerns that the hotel would overlook a sacred site.

However, former AAPA board member Rachel Perkins recently told ABC News that the developer withdrew this application shortly before the NT government amended sacred sites legislation in May to allow the addition of new parties to an existing authority certificate. This week, AAPA confirmed in a media release that it had revised the site's existing 2004 authority certificate to recognise both SH Darwin Hotel - the project's development company - and the Darwin Waterfront Corporation as recorded parties.

Perkins said, "It [the 2004 certificate] was for marina-orientated commercial activities. Now the certificate is being revived for an 11-storey building."

Chair of the AAPA board Bobby Nunggumajbarr agreed that the certificate is out-of-date.

"The board has very serious concerns about the use of a 20-year-old certificate to progress the SH Darwin Hotel proposed hotel project," he noted. "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."

According to Nunggumajbarr, "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."

According to ABC News, Treasurer Bill Yan "informed Larrakia stakeholders 'of the NT government's next steps to deliver the hotel' and outlined its intention to use recent changes to the Sacred Sites Act to make that happen" in July. His letter stated that, "Importantly and in line with the new provisions, all recorded parties will be required to fully comply with these conditions under the 2004 certificate."

Nunggumajbarr said, "This application has put the board in a difficult position but under the amended [Sacred Sites] Act we must add the recorded parties."

The AAPA board will be escalating the matter to the federal government, in doing so expressing their support of Larrakia custodians and their objections to the hotel development.

"Sacred sites and development often coexist and the Darwin Waterfront Precinct is proof of that," Nunggumajbarr commented. "The precinct demonstrates that with proper consultation and respect, development can proceed in a way that benefits all Territorians, whilst also protecting the cultural heritage of the Larrakia people."