Linford Feick death sparks renewed calls for $12m Nightcliff Police Station to be operational

If the CLP were serious about making a change that would have an immediate effect on locals, they’d do whatever it takes to get the Nightcliff Police Station up and running, writes Katie Hall.

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro in the Northern Territory Parliament on March 27, 2025. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Less than 48 hours after the alleged murder of beloved grocery store owner Linford Feick, the Chief Minister has once again confirmed there are no plans to turn the laughing stock that is the Nightcliff Police Station into an operational facility.

The station on Progress Drive is about 30 metres across the road from the Nightcliff Friendly Grocer where tragedy struck for the Feick family on Wednesday evening.

The traumatic event was witnessed by customers who were shopping when the 18-year-old man – now charged with Mr Feick’s murder – allegedly stabbed the 71-year-old in his shop.

The young man was on bail at the time and will face court for the first time on Monday.

In an op-ed published in today’s Sunday Territorian, Mrs Finocchiaro reiterated she would reconvene parliament this coming week to push through changes to the Bail Act and Declan’s Law.

The changes, she says, will make it harder for defendants to get bail.

Meanwhile, residents and other business owners in Nightcliff and Coconut Grove continue to cry out for actual boots on the ground – a plea which has been ongoing since before the CLP were elected in August 2024.

Nightcliff Police Station on Progress Drive. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Chief Minister, in your op-ed you appealed to Territorians to “fight with” the CLP for a better Territory.

Strengthening the Bail Act to hold more scrutiny towards those who breach bail is one thing (and it must be done right to protect the right of a person to a fair day in court) – but the consensus from the community is clear: Get the station operational.

That way, the community will feel like they are being fought for.

Mrs Finocchiaro in February, six months after winning government, likened the station to a “glorified office space”, noting its open-plan layout and lack of a watch-house or cells.

Mrs Finocchiaro on Friday told this publication there were no resources the CLP could allocate to the station to have it “operate differently than what it is now”, and once more shifted the blame to the former Labor government – who had the station built in 2021 at a cost of $12m.

The station reportedly houses the Territory Safety Division, school auxiliaries and a Neighbourhood Watch NT admin office – although you could be forgiven for thinking it was more of a storage closet.

The NTG can say it isn’t possible to transform the station into an operational facility all they like – but they forget they are the big dogs in charge – who ran a successful election campaign based on a tough-on-crime approach.

Nightcliff Police Station in 2025. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

If the CLP were serious about making a change that would have an immediate positive effect on locals, they’d do whatever it takes to get that station up and running; not just keep diverting back to their running line of ‘its all Labor’s fault’.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton flew quietly into Darwin on Saturday and, oddly, visited Karama Shopping Plaza and met with business owners, Mrs Finocchiaro and others to discuss crime.

Why did he not go to Nightcliff Shopping Village? Maybe Mrs Finocchiaro would have had to explain to Mr Dutton why the station sits empty.

In the wake of Wednesday’s tragedy, Assistant Police Commissioner Travis Wurst claimed even if there were officers at the station, police would still have taken the same amount of time to respond to the scene.

“It wouldn’t have necessarily made a difference,” he said.

Well, how can that possibly be?

And, try telling that to Mr Feick’s family’s face.

The CLP have been driving the ship for eight months now.

Plenty of other violent incidents have happened around Coconut Grove and Nightcliff since they got in, including:

Another stabbing incident outside a barber shop at Nightcliff Village, smashed car windscreens at public housing units (also next to the station), a teenage girl was smacked across the face with a fridge shelf, a man was stabbed in the neck by his cousin on Progress Drive, and a man was allegedly shot in the area.

And that is not even mentioning the activities that go on each night outside the station and nearby unit blocks – with crowds of drunk people gathering and often descending into screaming matches heard by worried residents.

Those who live here truly love the Territory – but they do not want to be told their safety is at risk because the government cannot put officers in an already-built station.

Katie Hall is the Deputy Editor of the NT News.

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Originally published as Linford Feick death sparks renewed calls for $12m Nightcliff Police Station to be operational