Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

As I indicated from my seat but shall repeat for the record, the common areas we are speaking about lie only inside the prescribed areas which are only going to be prescribed areas for a five-year period. Nothing in my response to you refers to any lands outside of those areas. In terms of busybodies or other people, I think you made a good analogy—Canberra is probably a poor analogy—but like in a small country town where areas with buildings are private property. All other places would be considered to be communal areas. As I have said, we will be taking a very practical approach as with sacred sites. If this becomes a problem, then we need to look at it and try to resolve it.

Like in any community—these are very different and I do not think it is useful to be prescriptive—this is private land. By and large, people know exactly where their private land on communities is. Norms about travelling upon private land exist now in those communities. You do not just wander across land or do those sorts of things; you walk up to the front door, knock on the door and ask to speak to the people inside, in exactly the same manner as you would in any other community. That is consistent with our approach across a range of these issues.