Tennant Creek Show cancelled weeks out from event due to volunteer burnout, poor infrastructure

This year’s Tennant Creek Show has been cancelled weeks out from the event, leaving many in the remote Northern Territory town disappointed.

Key points:

The Tennant Creek show 2023 has been cancelledThe cancellation was due to lack of volunteers and poor infrastructure at the show siteMany community members are disappointed

The agricultural show normally runs annually on the second weekend of July, but Barkly Regional Council mayor Jeff McLaughlin said this year the show would not go ahead due to inadequate infrastructure and volunteer burnout.

“It’s just really hard for us to pull the show off this year,” he said.

“We’ve been paying off big water bills and repair bills over the year.

“At the end of last year’s show we had all of our toilets trashed and vandalised and pavilions are constantly being broken into through the roof.”

Many community members were disappointed to hear the show would be cancelled this year.(Caddie Brain)

Mr McLaughlin said there were not enough volunteers to run the show, despite call-outs throughout the year.

“A lot of our members in the show society have been on there for 20 years,” he said.

“Mostly every event in our town is run by small little committees and across Australia there’s a lot of community burnout.”

Kids and community missing out

Many Tennant Creek residents told ABC Rural they were disappointed by the cancellation.

Tennant Creek Country Women’s Association (CWA) member Lorraine Gibson-Napaltjara said the show was a fundraising opportunity for community groups in the Barkly region.

Lorraine Gibson-Napaltjara says many community groups rely on the show.(ABC Alice Springs: Victoria Ellis)

“CWA usually have a cafe there and our volunteers make cakes, scones, sandwiches and all sorts of food that can be purchased at the show,” she said.

“Then that money helps keep us going with CWA.

“It’s pretty disappointing having less than a month’s notice that this has been cancelled.”

Ms Gibson-Napaltjara said money that would have found its way into the Tennant Creek economy through the show would now be spent elsewhere.

“People are now going to be travelling to Alice Springs, to Katherine, to Mount Isa to get to those shows,” she said.

“We’re a small town here, we rely on that tourism dollar, we rely on every single dollar we get, so now that business is going to be taken to other places.”

There’s something for everyone at the Tennant Creek Show.(ABC Rural: Caddie Brain)

Ms Gibson-Napaltjara was also concerned for young people in the Barkly.

“I’m not one to be jumping on the rides anymore, but I’ve got a lot of grandchildren in this town that come and ask me, ‘Nanna, do you have any cents for the show?’, and they look forward to it,” she said.

“With all the stuff that we battle with every day … the constant addictions we’re battling within this community, whether it’s grog or drugs or gambling, these kids don’t get a lot of positives.

“This means that the people who are congregating in town here for show day are going to be upset and we’re going to be dealing with a lot of antisocial behaviour.”

Mr McLaughlin is hoping the show society can pull off at least a side show event this year.(ABC Rural: Caddie Brain)

Hopes for a side show

Mr McLaughlin said the show committee was working with the Barkly Regional Council and Northern Territory chief minister and cabinet to see what could be done.

“I’m really hoping personally that we can just pull off something, at least a sideshow alley for the community this year,” he said.

“Hopefully we can find somewhere else that has the infrastructure and I’ve talked to a couple of contractors in town with [generator] sets and stuff like that, so let’s see what we can do.

“We’ll try and get a positive out of a sad situation.”

Posted 4h ago4 hours agoTue 20 Jun 2023 at 7:22am, updated 3h ago3 hours agoTue 20 Jun 2023 at 7:51am

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