Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro calls Tennant Creek hardware store ‘important’ ahead of looming closure
Tennant Creek’s only hardware store is an ‘important business’, the Chief Minister says, but the opposition say her ‘attempts to politicise this issue’ ahead of it’s looming closure are ‘nonsensical’. Find out why.
Alice Springs
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The only hardware store in one Territory town is an “important business,” the Chief Minister says, as the opposition calls on her to work with the community and “come up with a solution” ahead of the store’s closing date.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro made the comments to this masthead while in Alice Springs, as the January 31, 2025 closing date for Barkly Hardware in Tennant Creek rapidly approached.
Just before Christmas, a letter circulated on social media, signed by Centrecorp Aboriginal Investment Corporation chief executive Randle Walker, which stated the shop would shut.
The letter gave no reason for the sudden closure.
Centrecorp owns 50 per cent of the store, while the other 50 per cent is owned by Julalikari Aboriginal Corporation.
Ms Finocchiaro said the store was “a really important business and asset” for Tennant Creek, and linked the stores closure to “10 years of failed government policy”.
“We’ve got people leaving the Territory, we’ve got crime out of control, and that’s putting pressure on the private sector sector, which means many, many treasured businesses around the Territory are closing their doors,” she said.
“This is why we’ve got a mandate to reduce crime and rebuild the economy.”
The hardware store changed hands in 2022 for $850,000 after it was sold by Andrews Property.
Ms Finocchiaro said she had been briefed on the issue by Barkly MLA Steve Edgington, who previously indicated he would like to see the store sold, not shut.
Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said Ms Finnochiaro was attempting to politicise the issue, labelling her comment “nonsensical”.
She said decisions on the store’s future “are a commercial matter for the owners”.
“Her priority should be working with the community and the store owners to come up with a solution instead of playing politics with a matter of such importance for the people of the Barkly region,” she said.
A meeting between Julalikari Aboriginal Corporation and Barkly Mayor Sid Vashist on the store’s future is set to take place in “early” January, Julalikari Chair Tony Miles confirmed.
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