Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to subsection (2), and notwithstanding the degree of their attachment to land, all meteorites in the Territory are the property of the Territory and their management and control is vested in the Board.
(2) A meteorite which had been severed or otherwise removed from the ground in which it was naturally imbedded or on which it naturally lay (whether or not as the result of erosion) and taken into possession by a person:
(a) before the commencement of this Act; or
(b) outside the Territory,
is not by virtue of subsection (1) the property of the Territory nor is its management and control vested in the Board by virtue of that subsection.
(3) The onus of proving that a meteorite had been severed or otherwise removed from the ground in which it was naturally imbedded or on which it naturally lay and taken into possession by a person:
(a) before the commencement of this Act; or
(b) outside the Territory,
rests on the person asserting that fact.
(4) Notwithstanding that a meteorite is the property of the Territory, neither the Territory nor the Board are liable for any damage or loss naturally resulting from the impact of a meteor or the presence of the meteorite.
(5) To the extent that subsection (1) effects an acquisition of property by the Territory, the Territory shall pay just compensation to the person whose property in a meteorite is so acquired and such compensation is recoverable in a court of competent jurisdiction.
(6) For the avoidance of doubt, the property in a meteorite does not pass under or by virtue of a law of the Territory relating to mining.