The Northern Territory’s long-anticipated Darwin art gallery, once championed by Labor as a flagship cultural project, is now facing a major rethink under the Country Liberal Party (CLP) Government. With costs ballooning beyond $100 million above original estimates, the Finocchiaro-led administration is shelving original operating plans and inviting the public to help decide the future of the building.
Announced this week, the CLP’s move will see an Expression of Interest (EoI) process launched to determine who will operate the site currently under construction in the Darwin CBD. The government claims this will ensure that the project—already plagued by budget blowouts—does not become a stranded asset.
Minister for Arts Jinson Charls criticised the former Labor government’s approach, calling the project a “pet project” committed to without a business case or operational funding plan.
“The Territory can’t afford to build something we can’t operate or maintain, but this is Labor’s legacy we have been left to clean up,” Mr Charls said. “By seeking proposals from multiple potential operators, we can ensure that the model chosen contributes to rebuilding the economy and restoring the Territory’s lifestyle.”
The former Labor government, under Chief Minister Michael Gunner, announced the new NT Art Gallery in 2020 as part of a $50 million budget line for cultural infrastructure. It was intended to sit alongside the NT Museum and Art Gallery and form part of a broader cultural precinct in Darwin. However, there were questions at the time about whether sufficient planning had gone into operational costs and community consultation. By late 2022, early estimates had already begun to climb, with the total cost nudging past $100 million.
Labor had pitched the project as a “transformative” arts and tourism investment. But critics pointed out that no completed business case was made public, and parliamentary scrutiny revealed that full costings, including staffing and long-term maintenance, had not been finalised before construction began.
Mr Charls said the CLP Government would not continue blindly with an unfunded model. “Rather than simply accept what we have inherited, we want to go to market and ensure we are achieving the most effective model going forward for the benefit of all Territorians,” he said.
The EoI process will be overseen by a new taskforce including the Department of People, Sport and Culture, the Department of Trade, Business and Asian Relations, the Department of Treasury and Finance, and the Department of Infrastructure. Interested parties will need to detail potential costs, operating models and the projected benefits to the community.
The shift reflects the CLP’s broader strategy since coming to office—reviewing what it says are unfunded or poorly scoped projects launched under Labor. The party has argued that years of spending announcements with little follow-through have weakened Territory finances and damaged public confidence.
While Labor has yet to respond publicly to the latest decision, it has in the past defended the gallery project as part of a long-term cultural and economic strategy for Darwin, one intended to attract tourism and support the local creative industry.
Critics of the CLP’s approach warn that inviting commercial bids could risk undermining the public cultural value the gallery was intended to deliver. Some arts leaders have argued that institutions like these cannot be run purely for profit and that leaving operational direction to the private sector could limit the gallery’s programming scope or accessibility.
But Mr Charls pushed back against such concerns, saying the EoI process was about making sure the building doesn’t end up gathering dust. “This is our government’s year of action, certainty and security—and that’s exactly what we are delivering.”
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