A government grant of almost $70,000 could be made available, parliament was told yesterday, despite the museum's "unfair and untrue" accusations the NT Government had been negligent.

A community-wide campaign led by the museum's board has secured the much-loved attraction a further year of funding, but its management and tactics have come into question since.

Hundreds of people, and quite possibly one of the biggest public galleries seen for years, squeezed into council chambers on September 25 with a clear message the museum had to be saved.

Community pressure won the day, with the council agreeing to provide an additional, once-off $50,000 to its already committed $101,000, and the Northern Territory Government matching the commitment as well.

But it was not without clear stipulations from the Mayor Fay Miller, the museum "cannot continue to operate in the way it has."

She said the museum's approach in securing funding had "bordered on bullying" and the lack of a business plan meant it would be "totally irresponsible to even contemplate" funding.

These sentiments were echoed in parliament sittings yesterday by Katherine MLA Sandra Nelson, who said she felt compelled to challenge "the assertion that the museum has not been supported".

She said she was not made aware of the museum's issues before July, and that it was unfair she had been publicly accused of "not caring".

"The Katherine Museum is an integral part of our community and I understand and am empathetic with the community's angst about the prospect of losing the museum, but I need to put this on public record," Ms Nelson said.

"The minister (for Tourism, Culture and Sport) and I were not made aware of the operational funding issue until, as I mentioned earlier, correspondence was received from the President of the historical society.

"It seems that the Department of Tourism and Culture was also unaware of the operational funding issue. As part of my efforts to support the museum and historical society board, I asked the department, through the minister's office, if there had been any prior communication from the museum or the historical society or even the Katherine Town Council, in regard to operational funding for the museum. There has been no correspondence received prior to July of this year.

"I am not going to go into detail about who said what, when they said it, why and how they said it because rehashing what has happened in the past is not going to change anything today, but I do feel compelled to put it on public record.

"While I appreciate and understand that people might be feeling anxious about the situation, quite frankly accusing me personally of not caring, of not supporting the Katherine community or of being negligent or even accusing the NT government of the same things, is not just unfair it is untrue and does not help the situation."

Both Ms Nelson and the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Lauren Moss said they are committed to supporting the museum into the future.

"It is really important that our non-government organisation-run facilities also have sustainable models and that is the responsibility of those board members, but we stand ready to provide that assistance that has already been offered via the Small Business Champions program but also now in financial support from Katherine Town Council and the NT Government," Ms Moss said.

Last year, the Katherine Town Council received $68,000 through the Regional Museums Grant Support program which was put towards research, consultation, planning and design of new interactive displays at the Katherine Museum, Ms Moss said.

"It is a grant that remains outstanding and we have indicated that we are willing to consider a variation of some or all of that grant for other mechanisms that could help the board put the museum on a more sustainable financial footing," she said.

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