Two anti-fracking protesters who drilled holes into the lawns in front of NT Parliament House have been found not guilty of causing criminal damage, with a judge saying the prosecution failed to establish the lawns were NT government property.
Lauren Mellor and Conrad Rory were charged after using a bobcat to drill three holes in the lawn.
In a hearing last month, the Darwin Local Court was told the holes took one hour to repair at a cost of $100.
The protest in April last year by the Protect Country Alliance group involved about 20 people and was in opposition to the Northern Territory Government's decision to lift a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing.
Today Judge John Neill said there was no dispute that both defendants intentionally drilled holes into the lawn but he found the prosecution's case failed to establish the lawn was the property of the NT government, as stated in the charge.
"The prosecution … called no evidence directly relevant to the ownership of the front lawn," he wrote in his findings.
Outside court, Ms Mellor said the decision was a victory for traditional owners fearful of fracking on their country.
"We think the Northern Territory Government should be ashamed of the way it's pursued us through the courts," Ms Mellor said.
Throughout the trial, the defence lawyer argued the pair was acting in defence of land and people who were at risk of a climate emergency that could be brought on by fracking.
Lawyer John Lawrence said the pair had exhausted all other options to ban fracking, and lifting the moratorium put Mr Rory's traditional lands in the McArthur River region at immediate risk because several exploration permits had been granted and test wells drilled.
"I'm protecting my community, protecting my water, protecting my land, protecting my family," Mr Rory said outside court.
"We're going to keep fighting this fight until fracking gets banned in the Northern Territory."
However, in his findings, Judge Neill was not satisfied the pair believed damaging the lawn was the only reasonable way to deal with an emergency.
He said the protest was highly unlikely to have any impact on the NT Government's decision and it was not an objectively reasonable response.
