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Standing in line outside a fireworks store in Darwin on the morning of July 1, a man told me he had purchased some kind of metal tube with which he intended to set off fireworks that night. It was morning and the store wasn’t open yet, but he wanted to get there early to beat the rush on a day of the year when people can buy and light fireworks.
He added, naturally, that the pipeline is illegal. (There are strict rules about what kind of fireworks and fireworks accessories can be sold; it’s not something he can walk into a store and buy.)
The next day, I read news about how a “couple” used a hollow steel pipe to set off fireworks. A mistaken fire caused the pipeline to explode, and flying shrapnel severed one man’s arm at the elbow and lodged in another man’s groin.
I hope the man I’m talking to is unrelated – he says he lives in a suburb in a completely different part of Darwin. However, it highlights the risk of giving people access to what is essentially explosives.
I went to Darwin to write about how the Northern Territory is the only place left in Australia where people are allowed to set off fireworks without a permit or any kind of permission. Territory Day, also known as Cracker Night, is a celebration of independence in a state that has always prided itself on being a bit wilder than the rest of the country and where people see themselves as defenders of Australia. . larval spirit.
In the process of reporting storyI am struck by the way people talk about individual freedom and responsibility, and how they see the Northern Territory as Australia’s final frontier to both.
Australia is sometimes criticized as a nanny nation. A strictly regulated approach is needed to issues like public health, and as we have seen in times of pandemic, people are generally happy to follow the rules and give up some freedoms. by individuals for the collective benefit.
But some have questioned whether the country has struck the right balance between regulations and individual liberties. A politician who tried to bring fireworks back to other states – but failed – has Debate that banning them is part of a trend of “government interference in our personal choices that lowers our quality of life.”
For some in the Northern Territory, Cracker Night is proof that they live in a place still ruled by common sense, where residents are trusted to make their own decisions about safety and their happiness.
Gary Burns, 32, said the night was about “knowing that we are Australia’s last frontier, before it turns to nanny status”.
Chris Lay, who runs Oriental Emporium, an Asian grocery store that turns into a fireworks store one day a year, says: “The ball is in my yard – I have to be safe. If I’m not safe, I’ll have to go to the hospital.”
Accidents happen every year. But proponents of tradition say many of them happen because people do something they shouldn’t – as is the case with steel pipes. They argue that regulations cannot prevent people from doing the wrong thing on purpose.
But the opponent has note that the regulations are intended to protect the broader community, as well as to protect people from themselves. Bystanders were also injured by the fireworks, and there were also concerns about the impact on pets and the environment.
Beneath all the festivities, there was an undercurrent of anxiety that the Northern Territory was on borrowed time. Although the people overwhelmingly support the event and any politician trying to abolish it will face a backlash, some worry that the tradition could be a tragedy. if not removed.
Rolf Gerritsen, a professor at Charles Darwin University, said: “I think opposition is slowly growing, adding that despite a strong sense of independence, the Northern Territory is slowly becoming gentler and more like the rest of the country. “I wouldn’t be surprised if within a decade Cracker Night is abolished like in the rest of the states.”
Now for this week’s stories:
