Resident and Mayor, Judy MacFarlane, said she was speaking as an individual and not as the leader of the Roper Gulf Regional Council as the issue had not been debated by them.

And she well understood the critical need to stop the spread of coronavirus into vulnerable communities.

But she said as a local, she questioned the town's new status as a remote Indigenous community which now prevented residents being allowed to move freely to Katherine for business and shopping.

About 250 people live in the home of the Never Never.

Under current restrictions, any Mataranka resident who traveled through the road block up to the Stuart Highway to Katherine would be required to quarantine for 14 days before being allowed back in.

Residents are outraged by the bans.

Ms MacFarlane says the road blocks are unfairly impacting the area's citizens.

"People are settling into the reality of the roadblocks but they're not happy - I'm hearing from single parents struggling to pay their mortgages who can't afford to pay the higher price we have for groceries here," she said.

"I've spoken to the office of (Lingiari MP) Warren Snowdon, I've spoken to our local MP Selena Uibo and to the Local Government Association - the reception has been good so far so you can only hope.

"We are a town on a federal highway, we are not a remote Indigenous community so why can't we go to Katherine to do our shopping where it's cheaper," she said.

Mataranka was included in a federal-level decision to limit movement in and out of remote communities in an attempt to limit the spread of coronavirus into vulnerable indigenous communities.

More reading: People leave Katherine to return to country.

While the decision overall has near-unanimous support in the Territory, Ms Macfarlane asks why Mataranka has been singled out while other towns with high Indigenous populations have been left open?

"The roadblocks need to stay in place, we don't want people from Darwin coming down here but they need to govern it in a way that allows local people to still complete the tasks they need to," she said.

"Tennant Creek and Pine Creek are both towns that also have large Indigenous populations but have been left open, so why are we the ones that have been closed up?

"It's a federal decision, and frankly we all think because of the name they think that we're an indigenous town," Ms MacFarlane said.

"I'd really like to make clear that my message to everyone right now is to 'stay home, stay safe', and that the majority of people are doing exactly that," she said.

"They're working from home, they're not going out socialising, but I have heard that there are a number of local people using bush tracks to get around the roadblocks which is troubling.

"The last thing anybody wants here is to see the virus get into our communities, but the way the roadblocks are being governed right now they just aren't working," Ms MacFarlane said.

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