In short:

A new Barkly Regional Council has been elected after a long period of administration.

Some Tennant Creek residents say the elections are fostering a "real sense of optimism" in the community.

What's next?

Incoming mayor Sid Vashist is promising to rebuild trust with the community, clear an infrastructure backlog and repair the budget.

The new mayor of the Northern Territory's Barkly Regional Council (BRC) says rebuilding trust with a tuned-out electorate and reviving stalled projects will be among his top priorities in the role, as the results of the council general election were declared on Monday.

Sid Vashist won the position of mayor with 54 per cent of the vote as 12 others were voted into councillor roles across four wards.

Barkly Regional Council election results

Mayor: Sid Vashist  

Alpurrurulam ward: Valerie Campbell 

Kuwarrangu ward: Lennie Barton, Ben Neade

Patta ward: Greg Marlow, Sharen Lake, Pennie Cowin, Dianne Stokes, Valda Napurrula Shannon

Alyawarr ward: Noel Hayes, Andrew Tsavaris, Darryl Rex Morton, Zacieus Long

It comes after the Barkly region has been without an elected council since October 2023.

All former elected members of the BRC were suspended, then officially dismissed, following an investigation that found widespread failures across the organisation.

Cr Vashist has an Indian Australian migrant background and works in mining exploration around Tennant Creek, where he lives with his young family.

He said he was "humbled and privileged" to be elected mayor.

"If you're willing to listen to the people, no matter where you come from, people will back you," he said.

But Cr Vashist said he would also begin his term by seeking an urgent briefing on how the previous council managed to spend an extra $5 million on wages in the past financial year, while it was in administration.

"I do have a lot of questions right now," Cr Vashist said.

"That's happened under the Northern Territory government official management's watch.

"There will be some answers out there, and I'm keen to work with the government to actually get the answers."

The blowout was revealed in the council's latest financial report.

The documents show the total wages bill jumped from $13.7 million in 2022-23 to $18.5 million last year.

The full-time equivalent staff headcount at the end of the reporting period was 377, up from 245 the year before.

Cr Vashist said the boom in staff numbers was hard to explain.

Barkly Regional Council report finds 'serious deficiencies'

 

Photo shows A sign for the Barkly Regional Council, on a stone wall.

"A hundred extra people, that's something that's really hard to believe has happened," he said.

"It's something that we need to get briefed on."

The council's overall finances have also fallen from a net deficit of less than $500,000 in 2023 to an $11 million deficit in 2024.

"It's very disappointing to learn the current state of the council," Cr Vashist said.

"We will rise above all this."

'We need a change'

Richelle Watson is a Warumungu woman who works at The Mob, an Aboriginal organisation in Tennant Creek that runs youth diversion programs and a night patrol bus.

She said the town, which is the biggest urban centre in the Barkly area, was ready for a change after a "lack of accountability and transparency" by the previous council, followed by a long period of administration.

"The relationships in the community have been little to non-existent," Ms Watson said.

She said the council could help young people by improving playgrounds and parks and help the elderly by fixing footpaths.

"I want my kids to grow in up in a community, in a town that they are proud of, and the council plays a huge part in that," she said.

Low voter turnout in council election

 

Photo shows A man in a hat sits down with an older man in a remote community.

She said the main street of Tennant Creek was in dire need of a clean-up.

The mayor said substantial funds for main street beautification had already been allocated in projects that had stalled under the Barkly Regional Deal, a joint agreement between the council and the NT and federal governments.

"The money has been sitting in government coffers for some time," Cr Vashist said.

"The delays, the timelines, the shifts … I want to work with the government and we have to fast track all these infrastructure projects, because enough is enough."

Council role in unearthing Barkly creatives

James Winwood, the operations director of Barkly Regional Arts, said there was a "real sense of optimism starting to form" in the region thanks to the new council elections and a recent uptick in business activity.

The arts centre is a hub for both music and visual arts.

Mr Winwood said the council played a significant role in hosting big-ticket events that drew people to the area.

"We're a small, humble organisation with a giant task in that we're working across an [area] as big as Victoria, so any assistance through the access to resources and council staffing and other things would be really helpful," he said.

Mr Winwood said he also wanted to work with the council to unlock "artistic excellence" and "brighter futures" for Barkly creatives.

"There's such great, amazing talent, great stories, great enthusiasm around the arts," he said.

"It's an issue of access, accessibility and capacity amongst all the organisations to ensure that these young people are getting those opportunities."