Northern Territory Major Events Company: $4 million extra funding granted

More than $80 million in new money poured into the Territory in 2023. Now, the government want to make more. Read the details.

Major Events Minister Brent Potter (left) and NTMEC chief executive Suzana Bishop (right).

Approaching the dry season, the Territory government has given $4 million of extra funding to the Northern Territory Major Events Company in a bid to bolster local businesses.

At the Deckchair Cinema on Tuesday, Major Events Minister Brent Potter announced the latest boost would provide the industry a total budget of $41 million for its 2024 operations.

Mr Potter said the financial rewards of 2023 had spurred the decision.

“Last year, the Major Events Company generated $189 million into the Territory economy and we know that $80 million of that was new money,” he said.

“So with this funding boost we’ll see more events and new events come into the Territory in the next financial year.”

NTMEC chief executive Suzana Bishop said she was “extremely pleased” by the announcement and said the funding would deliver fortune beyond the economy.

“It really builds not only economic impact but also on social cohesion and elements of bringing community together,” she said.

“It’s job attraction investment (too) so we’re extremely pleased and grateful for that attention to major events.”

A component of the $4 million fund would be invested into the Events Funding Program which provides support to local businesses to deliver sporting, community and cultural events.

The latest round of the program in early 2024 provided more than $1 million dollars to 31 local businesses, which included the international film festival and the Top End Gin Festival.

Deckchair Cinema manager James Parker said NTMEC’s support was more than financial.

“It’s not just funding, it’s a lot of support from behind the scenes,” he said.

“The team at NTMEC are fantastically helpful, they open a lot of doors and they help you through the process of delivering your event and it really is a partnership where they’re invested in making your event the best possible event that it can be.”