The chief minister of the Northern Territory has sought to hose down the controversy surrounding a $130m deep-sea port project which went ahead without environmental assessment or approval, despite being in an area of ecological national significance.
Speaking in Darwin on Thursday, the chief minister, Adam Giles, also dismissed an investigation ordered by the federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, this week, saying Hunt was “well aware of what’s going on the Tiwi Islands” with the development and that several NT ministers had spoken to him about it.
A spokesman for Hunt denied the minister was aware of it, telling Guardian Australia the federal department never received a referral for the project, something which environmental lawyers said should have happened because the area was considered “of national environmental significance.”
It was earlier reported the Port Melville development on the Tiwi Islands which consists of a 36-hectare area of land, a 30m-litre tank farm for fuel storage and distribution, and a wharf in 12 metres of water never triggered the need for ministerial approval because the Northern Territory government does not consider it a port.
On Thursday afternoon Giles defended the actions of the developer and his government during the process and said people had been misled to think this was a significant issue.
The Port Melville development was a “fantastic port facility that is going to build trade and jobs for Tiwi Islander people and set forth a vision for the future that is shared by the majority on the Tiwi Islands who want to have long-lasting opportunity for their children,” he said.
“I’m quite confident with the development to date,” said Giles. “Of course we all care about the environment and the threatened species but I’m quite confident.”
He said the company has done everything it needed to do in regards to the process and current legislation.
Territory legislation never required an environmental impact statement for Port Melville because it sat outside the building control area, but Giles did not label it a “loophole” as his environment minister did on Wednesday.
Bill Freeland, the chair of the NT environmental protection authority, told the ABC on Tuesday the independent body could request information from companies but that they were in effect free to ignore it. It received a “deficient” notification from the Port Melville developers in 2014 and had requested further information, to no avail.
Tiwi Islands port built without sign-off as there is ‘no responsible minister’
On Wednesday afternoon the state environment minister, Gary Higgins, said “there is no responsible minister for signing off on a port development” in a legislative “loophole” which meant the Port Melville project was not pulled up for its lack of an EIA.
