THE Northern Territory Cattleman's Association believes it has been caught in the middle of a resourcing mess as authorities haggle over vehicle registration procedures.
In the past police have conducted inspections and helped with registration details, according to the NTCA's chief executive officer Ashley Manicaros.
But Mr Manicaros said the NCTA had been advised police would no longer complete light and medium registrations for vehicles and would only complete driver registrations and renewals if operations allow.
The changes mean pastoralists would be required to take their vehicles to the closest Motor Vehicle Registration office, which might be hundreds of kilometres away, or fly inspectors to remote properties to renew registrations.
Mr Manicaros said the extra cost of traveling or paying for registration personnel to visit remote locations was "the last thing needed" during the current dry climatic conditions.
"This is an unacceptable position to leave a $1.2 billion industry in," Mr Manicaros said.
"We've written to the NT Government with serious concerns regarding the withdrawal of these types of services which leaves millions of dollars of equipment and productivity stranded, often for months at a time
"But there is clearly a battle of resourcing going on and now the pastoralists and those who live and work in the bush are caught in a dispute triangle between police, MVR and the government.
"NTCA members support police in the bush but what we now need to see is the government backing the police and crucial bush services by ensuring that all agencies fulfill their roles no matter where a Territorian is located."