Incredible images: shelves replenished in Darwin shops

Supermarket shelves were stripped bare for the last two weeks following floods, but have now been replenished.

UPDATE: Shoppers have found sweet relief at stores across Darwin with fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and meat hitting the shelves.

Replenished shelves at Woolworths after floods caused food shortages for nearly two weeks. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Replenished shelves at Woolworths after floods caused food shortages for nearly two weeks. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Replenished shelves at Woolworths after floods caused food shortages for nearly two weeks. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

EARLIER: ACCESS to the only sealed road linking the Northern Territory and Queensland is hanging by a thread as floodwaters threaten freight access into the NT and Government and the Police hint at using Australian Defence Force personnel to airfreight essential supplies into the Territory.

Trucks already re-routed from South Australia into the Territory via Mt Isa have been forced by floodwaters to halt near Camooweal on the Queensland NT border while floodwaters recede.

A section of the railway into the NT from South Australia, cut off and wrecked by flooding. Picture: Australian Rail Track Corporation

And the head of the NT Road Transport Association Louise Bilato says it is unacceptable that access in and out of the Territory can still be threatened by a severe weather event.

The drama began on Saturday when unseasonally heavy rain in South Australia caused extensive damage to the Adelaide to Darwin railway and the Stuart Highway.

Additional rains on Saturday caused further damage to track and road.

Floods and wild weather have wrecked sections of the rail line to the Northern Territory. Picture: Australian Rail Track Corporation

Unseasonally heavy rain has caused extensive damage to the Adelaide to Darwin railway and the Stuart Highway. Picture: ARTC

Train operator Australian Rail Track Corporation says the track could be out of action until the middle of next month, leaving trucking company ABC Gilberts and other smaller operators to pick up the load.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner acknowledged the threat to road access via South Australia and Queensland. “At the moment the option around the Barkly is viable and that’s going to get food into the Northern Territory,” he said.

“If the Barkly was to get cut off we start moving into exceptional circumstances and then a whole range of things might need to be considered.”

Coles regional manager Daniel Clegg said the dual impact of Covid and floods was a “double whammy” and purchase limits on some items including milk have been introduced. In a statement Woolworths apologised to its Territory customers for “reduced product availability in our stores”.

Supermarkets — like this one in Alice Springs — have been left bare of groceries across the Territory because of supply line cut by floods, and Covid-affected staff. Picture: Bill Yan/Facebook

In Alice Springs Lhere Artepe, which owns and operates three IGA supermarkets said expected delivery of perishables on Friday including fruit, vegetables, meat, milk and bread had been delayed.

“This is a crisis,” said external affairs manager Sally McMartin.

“Now they’re saying the trucks might not come until Saturday. It’s not guaranteed,” she said.

Ms Bilato called on the Commonwealth, which is the senior funding partner in the National Highway Network, to increase its commitment to flood-proofing the Stuart Highway.

“These sections of the Stuart Highway need to be prioritised and rectified. We need more resilient infrastructure.”

Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler said issues around roads resilience will be addressed in the NT Infrastructure Plan.

WEEKEND WEATHER WARNING FOR CENTRAL AND BARKLY

NORTHERN Territory Police have urged motorists to stay off the roads amid a predicted weekend deluge in the Barkly and Central regions.

NT PFES on Friday afternoon warned falls of between 50 and 100mm were predicted across the Barkly region, the northern Tanami and the southern Gregory districts.

NT Emergency Service acting deputy director Ian Carlton urged motorists not to travel on the roads unless absolutely necessary.

“The Barkly and Central Australia has certainly felt the humidity this week, so rainfall across the area is a welcomed relief,” Mr Carlton said.

“However, as we’ve seen recently, rainfall across rural and remote areas does pose a risk to all motorists and so we urge everyone to delay all non-essential travel and please stay out of flooded causeways. Remember – if it’s flooded, forget it.”

Shelves in the Territory have been left empty after floodwaters inundated the Stuart Hwy and railway line in South Australia, cutting vital supply lines.

UPDATE: THERE are calls to deploy the Royal Australian Air Force to help ease the dire supply shortages facing Alice Springs and other parts of the Territory while a portion of the Stuart Hwy remains impassable.

Road trains bound for the Territory were forced to change course due to the Stuart Hwy closure between the outback community Glendambo and the opal mining town of Coober Pedy in South Australia.

Making matters worse, truckers instructed by their employers to double back to Port Augusta and take a prodigious detour have reportedly run into more trouble following monsoonal rains in central Queensland on Wednesday.

Woolworths says more stock is on the way. Picture: Nicholas Rickard

Meanwhile, parts of the transcontinental railway line have been submerged, preventing any freight moving from Adelaide to Darwin and Adelaide to Perth.

Supermarket shelves in Central Australia have been left bare with a growing number of gaps across the fresh produce category, and resturants are offering limited menus while some are closing their doors altogether.

But Woolworths on Friday morning issued a statement saying more stock would begin landing on Territory shelves later in the day.

A spokesman for Coles said the supermarket was implementing additional purchasing limits in the NT from Friday.

The limits include: 1 x toilet paper, 2 x chicken breasts/thighs from meat department, 6 x chicken breasts/thighs from deli, 2 x mince, 2 x sausages, 2x fresh milk, 4 x long life milk.

The manager of the Glendambo BP, Richard Patridge, said most of the approximately 30 trucks backed up at the service station earlier this week had turned around and left.

Mr Patridge, a 30-year veteran of the South Australian Country Fire Service, said government urgently needed to step in to ensure Territorians could access fresh fruit and vegetables and other essential goods.

“The government’s got to come on board, get their support planes in the air – like they do for the overseas aid drop – and look after our own backyard first,” he said

Following weeks of nationwide shortages resulting from a spike in Omicron cases Mr Patridge said the latest downpour was the “perfect storm” for supply issues facing the Territory.

“No one in this end of the country has ever seen this and no one’s ever prepared for it,” he said.

Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics Eva Lawler reassured Territorians there were enough supplies to “keep everyone fed”.

“Our food suppliers carry extra stock at this time of year because they know roads get cut off, so there is plenty of stock in our warehouses, but some fresh produce is in lower supply than normal,” she said.

Ms Lawler said she was in constant communication with the freight and transport sector, including a meeting on Tuesday with South Australia Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Corey Wingard.

“Freight operators have already commenced travelling via alternative routes through Queensland and the Barkly and fresh fruit and vegetables will begin to enter the Territory over the next couple of days,” Ms Lawler said.

EARLIER: THE shelves may be restocked, but Territorian shoppers may had to lug out their groceries by hand as supermarkets runs out of shopping bags.

Coles and Woolworths reportedly ran out of plastic and reusable bags, with desperate customers nicking most of the cardboard boxes to carry their supplies.

It follows weeks of shortages, with meat, vegetables – and most critically beer – disappearing from the shelves.

The latest shortages can largely be traced back to the wild weather last week in South Australia, with a number of roads cut off due to flooding.

“Following railway and road closures due to flooding, along with current supply chain disruptions and absenteeism due to Covid-19, deliveries to our stores in the Northern Territory have been delayed,” a Woolworths spokesman said.

“We’ve re-routed our deliveries via road and are expecting to have trucks arriving at stores across the region over the next 24 hours.”

Woolworths said plastic bags had already been affected, but other product lines may follow.

“Our teams are working hard to ensure stock is delivered as soon as possible, but our NT customers will regrettably see reduced product availability in our stores,” the spokesman said.

“We know this is frustrating and thank our customers for their patience and understanding.”

A Coles spokeswoman said a delivery of shopping bag arrived in all NT stores on Thursday.

“However, customers who do want to bring their own reusable bags are of course most welcome, as we do love our sustainability at Coles,” she said.

Earlier this month the major supermarket confirming the impacts were because of workers caught up in a national Covid spike.

It is understood the bag shortage has meant shoppers have been nicking baskets and shopping trolleys to get their groceries home.

One staff member had to collect for 68 supermarket trolleys stolen from the store.

KFC Alice Springs shuts after running out of chicken due to Stuart Highway closure

INITIAL, WED JAN 26: KFC Alice Springs was forced to shut its doors on Australia Day after running out of its prized fried chicken.

Taking the title of the world’s most isolated KFC, the store was unable to get stock because of flooding on the Stuart Hwy between Glendambo and Coober Pedy.

Franchisee Sam Edelman said the closure was disappointing but he assured Alice Springs residents they would be able to get their fix of fried chicken when the store reopened on Thursday.

“The KFC supply chain has managed to organise chicken from up in Darwin to be brought down,” he said.

“That’ll be hopefully the end of it but we’ll see.

“To supply us and Darwin over the weekend there will be chicken brought in from Queensland.”

Mr Edelman said everyone had done their best to keep the store open amid Covid-related supply issues but the flooding had “defeated us”.

He said other Alice Springs businesses had also been impacted by the highway closure.

“For some of the small businesses that can’t get stock and restaurants that may have been impacted previously by Covid, I’d imagine for them it would be very difficult,” he said.