Treasurer
Minister for Logistics and Infrastructure
Minister for Housing Construction
Media Release CLP pulls the plug on Labor's multi-million dollar shade flop
4 September 2025
The Finocchiaro CLP Government is ending the waste on Labor's failed over $5 million Cavanagh Street shade structure.
Built by Labor in 2018 with big promises of lush vines and leafy coverage by 2020, the reality has been another expensive Labor failure.
Seven years on from its launch, the 55-metre structure delivers little more than stunted vines that will cost $130,000 every single year to keep alive and another failed Labor legacy they refuse to acknowledge.
Minister for Infrastructure, Bill Yan, said Territorians were sick of paying for Labor's mistakes.
"The shade structure is symbolic of the Gunner, Fyles and Lawler Government's inability to deliver a single successful project."
"They ignored expert advice, planted the wrong vines, and then spent years making excuses - blaming pruning, weather, even disease,' he said.
"You'd think growing vines would be easy, but then Labor got their hands on it."
"Thanks to their complete incompetence, Territorians are yet again paying the price."
"It's just like the economy we inherited - mismanaged, neglected, and costing Territorians dearly."
He said the result would be a structure with street appeal without the ongoing financial waste.
"We will remove the vines and reinstate the structure's lighting feature to deliver a modern, ambient streetscape."
"Year after year, taxpayers have been bled dry keeping half-dead vines on life support with hundreds of thousands already wasted and $130,000 more every single year ongoing. That's not shade, that's a sham."
"Once again we are stopping the waste, and proving once again the CLP is the only party that can be trusted to manage the Territory's finances."
