‘We are on our knees begging for help’: Jabiru social institution struggles for survival

WHAT’S a town without a golf course? Better yet what’s a town without any takeaway liquor outlet? In the struggling Territory town of Jabiru they are all one and the same

Jabiru Golf Club captain Adrian Estrich, on the dry fairway at the Jabiru site, says an injection of government funds is the only hope for club and town. Picture: Keri Megelus

WHAT’S a town without a golf course? Better yet what’s a town without any takeaway liquor outlet?

In the struggling Territory mining town of Jabiru they are all one and the same and survival is in serious jeopardy unless Prime Minister Scott Morrison steps in and saves the town with federal funding.

Jabiru Golf Club captain Adrian Estrich pulls no punches when he says the Jabiru Golf Club is on its knees in every sense.

“We are on our knees begging for help and we are on our knees trying to meet our overheads,” he said.

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Jabiru’s declining population has taken its toll on the club and unless something is done quickly to help it, there is every likelihood the club and its takeaway licence will be gone.

“We are no different to any other sporting organisation in Jabiru,” Mr Estrich said.

“We survive on our membership and the population of the town.

“When the town had a population of 3000-plus all the sporting organisations were going fine.

“Now the population is down to close to 1000 and the sporting organisations have slowly disappeared. There just isn’t enough people in Jabiru to keep them going.”

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In the case of the golf club, its future is now and government help is needed now.

“Potentially the future of the club is awesome, but our biggest problem right now is the interim period and the decision around the masterplan for Jabiru,” Mr Estrich said. “Our current situation is that we are losing members because of Jabiru’s dwindling population.

“We have less paid-up members and we still have to pay the same for power, to water the golf course, for our rates and so on. So there is no reduction in our costs.

“It is harder and harder to run the place for the town.

“Rates and power and water costs are the killer.

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“We have had to stop watering the fairway to try to keep our costs down. That’s why the greens are green and the fairways are brown.

Mr Estrich said the reinvigoration of Jabiru and Kakadu is the only hope for the club and the town.

“We feel like the future could be bright with the changes and a renewed focus on tourism,” he said.

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“An injection of funds from the federal and Territory governments is much needed to bring more tourists back to town. This could be a major hub for tourists to come and socialise.

“The Prime Minister has given us some hope, so we are optimistic that the future could be bright.

“Time will tell.”