The mayor of Alice Springs says he is considering temporarily closing the council's public gallery after a heated incident at this week's ordinary meeting.
But the move has sparked concerns it could allow elected members to dodge scrutiny.
A resident in attendance — who was asked to leave after heckling over a proposed motion — stood over Deputy Mayor Eli Melky and traded barbs with him as he was being escorted out.
The motion by the deputy mayor was for council to set up an account to accept donations to fund private security and possibly a dog patrol, however it was withdrawn before it could be debated.
Mayor Matt Paterson announced the next day he was contemplating the closure due to safety concerns for elected members and staff, but said the council would "investigate" alternate options for the future.
Cr Melky told ABC Radio Alice Springs he had the right to defend himself, and would "punch back" if a situation arose where a member of the public physically threatened him.
Cr Melky said it wasn't the first time he'd been intimidated by a member of the public.
"Don't confuse my empathy and my calmness with the fact that you can approach me," he said.
"I will punch back."
Changes after 'unacceptable' incident
Cr Paterson said while any closure of the chamber to the public would only be temporary, his team would look to implement new measures to address safety.
"What happened ... was unacceptable, to have a member of the public stand over an elected member," he said.
"It was raised in general business and the CEO will go away and see what he can do."
But councillor Michael Liddle said closing the public gallery would be "foolish" and that the council should "man up".
"I'm all for the public coming down, talking and venting their anger or their happiness," he said.
"That's why we get elected, we weren't elected to sit down and dodge the public, we want them there."
Coumcillor Marli Banks said the conversation had gone "way too far", and was distracting from more important issues.
More action to keep councillors safe
The deputy mayor agreed with Cr Liddle, but said "bullying, harassment and heckling" should never be accepted.
"Imagine if that happened in any parliament," he said.
"They'd have a dozen security jumping all over the individual.
"And then obviously, charges may have been laid."
He said there was no real separation between the public gallery and elected members, and metal detectors and increased security could provide an extra layer of safety.
He said the council could also do more to educate the public about how to behave in meetings.
"But do you really need to educate the public that you can't walk towards an elected member in chamber?" Cr Melky said.
A Northern Territory government spokesperson said the Local Government Act required that council meetings remain open to the public, however, there were exceptions.
"The Act ... provides that an objective of a council is to generally act at all times in the best interests of the community as a whole," the spokesperson said.
This would include the council taking actions in response to safety concerns to protect council members, council staff and members of the public.
"A temporary closure of the public gallery can be justified if there are safety concerns," the spokesperson said.
