Fireworks on way to ensure Territory Day isn't a fizzer
For one day a year Northern Territorians are allowed to buy and set off their own fireworks to celebrate Territory Day, affectionately dubbed Cracker Night.
But NSW authorities risked putting a dampener on the 2025 festivities after seizing the explosive cargo that was ordered for the big event on July 1.
In the NT fireworks have become synonymous with the day that marks the anniversary of its self-government in 1978.
Territorians are legally allowed to set them off for a five-hour period from 6pm on July 1.
But the fireworks shipment had entered NSW unauthorised and was seized by the state's workplace safety watchdog, a NSW government spokesman confirmed on May 16.
"While use of these fireworks is legal in the NT, they are not legal to sell and use in NSW," he said.
To preserve the sparkling overhead display NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro went over the heads of state bureaucrats and engaged directly with NSW Premier Chris Minns and Queensland counterpart David Crisafulli.
On Wednesday she confirmed negotiations had been successful and the trucks had left NSW bound for the NT via Queensland.
"It's so important that Territorians get to celebrate their way, and not be held ransom by interstate decisions," she told NT News.
"New South Wales and Queensland bureaucrats may have done their best to hold things up, but nothing gets in the way of Territory Day."
She thanked the two state premiers for their help.
In 2024, a 23-year-old man severed his arm and a 58-year-old man suffered an injury to his groin in a fireworks mishap, among a series of Territory Day incidents.
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