00:02Cyclone Fiena now long gone, but in its wake blowback of a different kind.
00:08The City of Darwin has failed its constituency and they can answer their ratepayers on that.
00:13Darwin Councils binned its annual pre-cyclone household clean-up for 2026,
00:20pushing it back to next May,
00:22blaming the huge costs and labour efforts caused by Fiena's arrival last November.
00:27We had a lot of damage in Cyclone Fiena and it's taken a lot of clean-up effort by our
00:33internal staff.
00:34Residents with mobility issues can still ask for help from Council removing household debris.
00:40But for other ratepayers, the Mayor's message, get a ute and go to the tip.
00:46It's not the role of City Council to look after people's internal furniture they don't want and things like that.
00:51It's not our role.
00:52Others argue Darwin Council is failing to deliver a crucial service.
00:56Oh, I'm not happy at all. I live in a no-good area, so when I heard this, it's just
01:03unbelievable.
01:04That's normal though, isn't it, in institutions like Council.
01:08They make decisions and then forget to tell everybody.
01:10For many of those we talk to here in Darwin's northern suburbs,
01:14there's a real feeling that the Council's reasons for pushing the pre-cyclone clean-up until after the cyclone season
01:21don't pass the pub test.
01:23There are now calls for the Lord Mayor to reconsider or risk further backlash from ratepayers.
01:29I would really encourage the Council to reconsider that decision and see if there are other options that they could
01:36do to help support our community.
01:38Darwin Council says its decision is done and ratepayers will have to wait until the next cyclone season has blown
01:46by.
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