A POLITICIAN yesterday defied his own party by speaking out against the Federal Government's plan to build a nuclear waste dump in the NT.

Damian Hale was the only Member of the House of Representatives in Canberra to oppose legislation that will pave the way for the dump by overriding a Territory Government law forbidding nuclear waste from being transported through the NT.

The Territory's other three representatives in Canberra - Labor's Warren Snowdon and Trish Crossin and the CLP's Nigel Scullion - supported the Federal Government.

The ALP is usually unforgiving of rebels - those who cross the floor and vote with the Coalition are expelled.

But Charles Darwin University lecturer Ken Parish, a former Labor member of the Territory Parliament, said Mr Hale's rebellion would be tolerated by party whips, whose job is to ensure MHRs support government policy.

There was no vote on the legislation because it was backed by all sides.

"Just speaking out is not like crossing the floor," Mr Parish said.

"The whips would have recognised that this is a hot local issue and allowed him to speak out.

"Damian won't be disciplined or suffer any disapprobation because of it." he said.

Mr Hale was saved from having to vote against his own government by a late decision by the Coalition to support the Government.

Mr Hale said he accepted that Australia had an obligation to store its nuclear waste properly.

But he said the site should be chosen for scientific reasons, not because the Territory was a constitutional "weak link" that didn't have the power to resist Canberra's wishes.

Mr Hale urged Resources Minister Martin Ferguson to restart the site selection process.