AN Alice Springs mum says she was “gobsmacked” when a man forcibly covered her breasts while she was feeding her baby last week at Alice Springs Desert Park.

Jana Berger said she was so shocked when the man grabbed her feeding cloth and covered her that she was left speechless.

“I didn’t react like I would have hoped to,” she said.

“But I still told him off and grabbed the cloth.”

The man was a visitor, not connected to the business.

Australian Breastfeeding Association Northern Territory spokeswoman Erica Venning said she was surprised this behaviour occurred in 2015.

“It was illegal for the man to do that,” she said.

“To have someone ill informed doing that is really inappropriate.

“Since women tend to cite a lack of support as a reason for discontinuing breastfeeding, you must have a wonderfully supportive community.”

Under Commonwealth law, breastfeeding is a right, not a privilege.

It is illegal to discriminate against a person for breastfeeding.

The man’s defence for the cover-up was someone else might be offended.

But as fellow mother Mandy Campbell said “if it offends you, don’t look”.

Mrs Campbell had a heated exchange with a man on Facebook about the issue.

The man likened breastfeeding in public to farting in public.

“It is completely different,” Mrs Campbell said.

“When a baby has to be fed, it has to be fed.”

Local dad Josh Bollard agreed. “It is a natural thing,” he said.