City of Darwin pursuing Kalymnian Brotherhood Darwin for $22,000 in unpaid rates
A multicultural club and the City of Darwin are locked in a dispute over whether the club is liable for thousands in unpaid rates, with an annual boxing tournament at the centre of the clash.
Northern Territory
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The City of Darwin is pursuing one of the Top End’s largest multicultural clubs for what it claims is more than $22,000 worth of unpaid rates.
The respondent, Kalymnian Brotherhood Darwin Inc (KBD), which owns the Kalymnian Hall and chapel at Batten Rd, Marrara, counters that it is exempt from paying rates.
At the heart of the dispute is the interpretation of a controversial section of the Local Government Act 2019, s222(1)(g), which holds that land held by registered charities is exempt from rates provided the land is used for a “non-commercial purpose”.
At a tribunal hearing on Wednesday, the council argued KBD’s use of the land is primarily commercial in nature, therefore it is liable to pay $22,097.45 in unpaid rates, while KBD’s lawyer, Bill Piper, argued that it was not.
In her evidence, KBD president Themis Magoulias agreed that the hall was hired out regularly for weddings, funerals, baptisms and memorials, mostly for members of the Kalymnian community but also occasionally for non-Kalymnians.
She further agreed that other associations could hire out the hall and it was also made available for large events, such as the annual King of the Ring boxing tournament, Greek Taverna nights, and New Year’s Eve parties.
However, Ms Magoulias said her organisation made little money off the events, with booking fees going straight back into KBD.
“We don’t make any money out of events like these. We wish we could, but we don’t,” she said.
“We’ve never made money, never.
“At the moment, we’ve got overheads of $75,000.
“We need to pay our bills somehow.”
In addition to large events and hall hire, a diary of KBD events illustrated there was also “religious instruction” two to three times a week, Greek dancing twice a week, and other sundry events specifically for the Kalymnian community.
Lawyer for the City of Darwin, Ryan Sanders, said the council accepted that some of the uses were non-commercial, but as non-Kalymnian people and associations could hire out the hall for events, there existed a commercial character to the operation.
“King of the Ring is an obvious revenue stream which is there for the purpose of making money,” he said.
“Non-Kalymnian weddings take place.
“It breaks the nexus between the promotion of Kalymnian culture and revenue raising activities.”
Mr Piper, KBD’s lawyer, said the organisation’s diary showed an overwhelming majority of events were held for the promotion of Kalymnian culture.
“The evidence really leaves very few non-Kalymnian cultural activities in the space at all,” he said.
Presiding member Ingrid Meier reserved her decision.
Last year, Local Government Minister Chansey Paech conceded that the wording of s222(1)(g) was causing “confusion” and proposed amending it to broaden the rates exemption provided to charities.
However, this was strongly opposed by the local government sector, which argued such a move would decimate a vital revenue stream, especially if it came to cover community housing providers.
Mr Paech backed down on the reform, committing to not progressing it in the current term of government.
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