Larrimah’s Pink Panther pub bought by ‘prominent Territory family’

IT’S not the mystery Larrimah wanted solved first, but the question of who will take over the famous Larrimah Hotel has been answered

Larrimah Pink Panther Hotel is situated south of Mataranka on the Stuart Hwy in the Northern Territory. Picture: Elise Derwin

IT’S not the mystery Larrimah wanted solved first, but the question of who will take over the famous Larrimah Hotel has been answered.

Tennant Creek businessman Steve Baldwin bought the Larrimah Wayside Inn, or the Pink Panther pub, in October.

The business was put on the market after the disappearance of local Paddy Moriarty.

Initial reports indicated the hotel was sold to a “prominent Territory family”.

Mr Baldwin is the brother of former Territory politician Tim Baldwin, who served as a minister in the NT Government between 1997 and 2001.

The sale included three crocodiles, a couple of emus and a jumbo sculpture of the panther knocking back a beer, as well as one in which he flies high in a gyrocopter.

Uncertainty has reigned in the tiny town, 500km south of Darwin, since the disappearance of Mr Moriarty late last year.

The sale has, however, provided some surety to locals that the town of 11 people will prosper.

The new owners of the pub will have to negotiate a tricky initial phase when they take over next year, with heightened attention on the pub and town since Mr Moriarty’s disappearance.