THE decision by the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association to move its 2015 conference from Katherine to Darwin due to an “unprecedented number of early registrations” has been slammed as the town begins to tally what the loss will ultimately cost.
On February 6, accommodation providers in Katherine advised that the NTCA had contacted them to explain that the conference, scheduled for March 26, had been relocated because the town was unable to provide venues large enough to host almost 500 delegates.
The conference itself was due to be held at the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre, while a gala dinner was scheduled to take place at YMCA Katherine.
NTCA Katherine branch member Helen Armstrong was part of the event’s organising committee and said she believed the decision to more the conference had nothing to do with the size of venues.
“The NTCA just did not want to hold the conference in Katherine,” she said angrily.
“Katherine has the capacity, the NTCA did not.”
The suggestion has been refuted by NTCA president David Warriner, who said it had been a numbers game.
“This has been a difficult decision for the whole board and one we would not have made if sheer numbers had not forced our hand,” he said.
“It is clearly a disappointing outcome for Katherine, which is a critical regional hub for our northern cattle industry.
“We have been mindful of the impact this decision will have on local businesses and our own Katherine branch members.”
Stephen Miller is the manager of the 126-room Knotts Crossing Resort and told the Katherine Times the conference relocation would cost the business more than $30,000.
“It’s a big hit,” he said.
“When it was cancelled, 86 per cent of our rooms were booked by people attending the conference.
“With accommodation, food and beverages taken into account, it’s probably going to cost us about $35,000.”
Mr Miller said that the timing of the event meant the resort had been forced to turn away tourists to cater for delegates, adding that organisers should have run the numbers before deciding on Katherine as a venue.
“It’s disappointing,” he said.
“Since October last year, any independent traveller who wanted to stay in the week before Easter has been turned away.
“[The NTCA] knew the size and knew it was going to be large.
“They wanted about 400 beds, which is basically all of [the accommodation in] Katherine.”
Mr Warriner said the event, which it is believed would have injected between $500,000 and $700,000 into the Katherine economy, had proved to be too big for the town in 2015.
“We have been overwhelmed by the more than 500 members, life members, VIPs, sponsors and associated delegates registered for both the conference and the dinner, and unfortunately, with Katherine’s limited capacity to host the program on a weekday this year, there was nothing different we could do,” he said.
The justification for moving the conference was described as “shameful” by one Katherine branch member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“They can paint it however they want, but the local members know it was changed because the NTCA big wigs wanted to entertain their sponsors in Darwin,” the branch member said.
“It’s been suggested for awhile that they don’t care about the members south of the Berrimah line anymore, and they’ve proved that by moving one of the biggest events Katherine was going to hold this year to Darwin.
“It’s just shameful and I’m disgraced to be an NTCA member.”
