Latest news with #CrackerNight
Sky News AU
02-07-2025
- Sky News AU
Territory Day celebrated by fireworks in Darwin
Territory Day celebrations took place on July 1, with thousands of people coming out to celebrate. Cracker Night in the Northern Territory allows residents to set off fireworks for one day of the year legally. This year's Territory Day marks 47 years since the Northern Territory achieved self-government.
ABC News
01-07-2025
- ABC News
The Northern Territory's 2025 Cracker Night in pictures
It happens just once a year, for five loud, chaotic hours — and only in one rebellious corner of the country. On the evening of July 1, the Northern Territory once again lit up in a flurry of bangs, smoke and unregulated explosives as thousands of people celebrated Territory Day. Territorians and visitors that travelled from all over Australia to take part in the celebrations took to the streets and braved the mayhem to mark the 47th anniversary of self-government — and to revel in their right to legally buy and set off fireworks. While the rest of Australia banned personal fireworks decades ago, the territory has tightly held onto the controversial tradition. "It's the Wild West out here," said Casey O'Flynn, who drove from Queensland with her family to experience the chaos of Cracker Night. Celebrated throughout the NT every July 1, Territory Day is the only time Australians can legally buy and use fireworks without a permit, with Northern Territory stores allowed to sell fireworks to people aged 18 or older. Cracker Night almost didn't go ahead this year, after more than 100 tonnes of fireworks bound for the Northern Territory were seized by New South Wales authorities. But eventually hundreds of tonnes of explosives crossed the border. They then vanished in a flash on Tuesday, sold through pop-up, one-day-only shops selling ominously named favourites like Loose Cannon, Heavy Duty Missiles and Bullet Bees. The biggest kits retailed for more than $5,000. Here's how Cracker Night was celebrated across the Northern Territory.
West Australian
05-06-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Fireworks on way to ensure Territory Day isn't a fizzer
A convoy of trucks is carting more than 100 tonnes of fireworks to ensure a territory's annual celebration of self-governance 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.
Perth Now
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Fireworks on way to ensure Territory Day isn't a fizzer
A convoy of trucks is carting more than 100 tonnes of fireworks to ensure a territory's annual celebration of self-governance 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.
