Indigenous protesters demand water rights
Protesters from the Northern Land Council (NLC) have stormed a Northern Territory water forum on in Katherine today.
Carrying placards and banners, the protesters demanded that the NT Government reinstate water allocations to Aboriginal traditional owners.
The NT Government decided to cancel the water allocations known as 'Strategic Indigenous Reserves' last year.
The reserves had guaranteed that a percentage of publically-owned water would be set aside for future commercial use by Indigenous people.
NLC chief executive Joe Morrison says the NT Government is refusing to consult traditional owners over the issue.
He's now pressuring the Government to hold an inquiry into the allocation of commercial water licences.
Minister for Primary Industry Willem Westra van Holthe, who was attending the water forum, responded to protesters.
"I want to see Aboriginal people get up and develop their land as much as anybody else," he said.
"You have the same rights to water now as any other Territorian."