The Northern Territory Government has announced its insurance company will give Barack Obama a policy that would cover the US president in the event of a crocodile attack.

Mr Obama will fly into Darwin on Thursday and the Territory's chief minister Paul Henderson says the state will spare no expense to insure the president's safety.

Mr Henderson says the policy from the Territory Insurance Office (TIO) will pay the president's family $50,000 if he gets attacked by a crocodile.

"The president will have total insurance against crocodile attack whilst he's here in the Northern Territory," he said.

"And if he gets too close to the cliff's edge there overlooking the harbour, he will have insurance in the event of any crocodile attack."

Mr Henderson says he will present Mr Obama with the policy as a gift when he touches down in Darwin.

"That will be presented to the president of the United States; this is somebody who travels a lot around the world, receives many gifts, but I'm sure he's never received a gift like this and it'll look pretty good in the presidential library," he said.

Peace of mind

But he said the policy was designed to give Mr Obama's family peace of mind.

"For Michelle and the kids they can be comforted if a terrible event did occur then $50,000 would be payed out by TIO to help support them," he said.

But as Mr Obama is not expected to get close to any wild crocodiles on his visit, Mr Henderson says he is pretty sure the Obama family will not have cause to cash it in.

"But I can guarantee Michelle and kids that we will look after the president, and unless he chooses to get into the Cage of Death in Mitchell Street with the crocodiles and there's a total failure there, I can guarantee he'll be pretty safe," he said.

"Tragically there have been on occasion fatalities, and certainly this is an insurance policy to give them all peace of mind, but I'm pretty sure given the security briefings I've had from our Police Commissioner that the president will be safe and he won't be needing to draw on the policy, and neither will Michelle obviously."

Worth the price

Darwin is the only Australian city Mr Obama is visiting aside from the national capital.

Extra police officers have been flown in, some roads will be blocked and planes not cleared by security will be turned away from Darwin airport.

But Mr Henderson says the visit is worth any extra costs or inconvenience.

"It's a small price to pay to have the honour of hosting the president of the Unites States when he's chosen to come to Darwin over and above and other city in the nation," he said.

"Obviously [there will be] police expenses and overtime for things like that, but this is a small price to pay."