Arnhem Land politician raises concern
Arnhem Land politician Yingiya Guyula said there needed to be more consultation with local constituents if the space centre was to be used for military purposes, such as for a missile range.
"The initial [Northern Land Council] briefing process was only about sub-orbital rockets and sounding rockets," he said.
Yingiya Guyula says he has not been consulted about the prospect of missiles being launched from Arnhem Land. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
"I have not been consulted … about orbital rockets and missiles being launched from our country and it is very concerning that these things are being talked about by ELA and others without the Yolngu clans connected to the Gove Peninsula being at the forefront of that conversation."
Mr Guyula's electorate covers the site of the Arnhem Space Centre as well as the nearby township of Nhulunbuy and its surrounding Aboriginal communities.
"Many people [have] raised concerns with me about the Space Centre being used by military," he said.
"Our concerns are that we may become a target if there is a foreign threat and our country is seen as expendable because we are in the middle of nowhere.
"But we are not in the middle of nowhere. The rockets are launching, flying over, and coming down on country that is populated.
"From bigger towns, to homeland towns, to hunting grounds and ceremonial sites."
Mr Jones was asked if there had been any consultation with the community about military customers potentially using the site, to which he answered: "The content of our commercial discussions is confidential."
ELA last year facilitated three sub-orbital sounding rocket launches at the Arnhem Space Centre by US space giant NASA, the first NASA rockets to be fired on Australian soil in more than 25 years.