Tennant Creek Supply Update

The Tennant Creek temporary supermarket is maintaining supplies, despite disruptions to road freight from Adelaide. Adelaide-based truck drivers have been detouring 3000 kilometres through Broken Hill and Mount Isa to deliver goods, IRAM CEO John Kop said today.

“These truck drivers are unsung heroes,” Mr Kop said. “They are doing 3000-kilometre journeys, driving at night and navigating flooded highways to deliver essential food and pharmaceuticals to the Territory.”

Truck driver Chris Lee-Gunkel from Gilberts Transport Service who drove all the way from South Australia via Broken Hill, Cobar, Charleville, Longreach, Mount Isa then on to Tennant Creek.

One truck arrived in Tennant Creek on Friday morning, after diverting from the Stuart Highway to travel through Queensland and along the Barkly Highway. “Luckily, it got through just two hours before road closures on the other side of the border,” IRAM CEO John Kop said today. A second truck arrived late on Sunday morning, unloaded and is now heading back to Adelaide.

“At the moment we are managing to stock most goods, however, we urge people not to panic buy,” says IRAM CEO John Kop. We have plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. However, we are experiencing shortages of meat,” Mr Kop said.

The flooding has also disrupted the planned reopening of the permanent store, which had been scheduled for mid-February. A team from Brisbane spent January installing the store’s point of sale (POS) system after a Perth team was cancelled before Christmas due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. Goods had been ordered to restock the rebuilt store and an Adelaide team was heading to Tennant Creek this week. “Fortunately, the first lot of freight was still sitting in Adelaide and didn’t get caught in the floods, but this has set us back yet again,” Mr Kop said.