The Northern Territory government has been accused of a publicity stunt, digging a hole for a concrete pour at the site of a new hospital, only to fill it in again once the TV cameras left.

Construction of Palmerston hospital, a project in the satellite city south of Darwin with $110m of federal funding, was supposed to have begun in 2014.

On Friday media were invited to attend the first pouring of concrete for a stairwell at the site to mark a construction milestone. NT health minister John Elferink and federal MP Natasha Griggs were in attendance.

But on Tuesday Channel Nine reported the hole had been filled in and smoothed over.

Construction giant Lend Lease is running the site, and Elferink told the ABC the company had decided to fill it in for “public safety”.

“I mean the concrete is still there and it will be uncovered as the job goes forward,” he said. “It is not my job to tell Lend Lease how to run their building site and I accept on face value that Lend Lease is doing the job in a manner they see fit.”

On Wednesday the opposition leader, Michael Gunner said the event was “ridiculous” and “clearly a stunt”.

“Builders don’t waste time, effort and energy on digging holes and filling them in,” he told media. “Building companies don’t do anything on sites unless it is safe to do so.”

He said chief minister Adam Giles had to answer questions about the event, as his department was responsible for the project.

“If I was the federal government I’d be extremely upset. We should not be wasting any more of Territorian taxpayers’ money,” Gunner said.

NT senator Nova Peris labelled the event a “publicity stunt” and “an arrogant attempt at trying to fool the people of Palmerston”.

“The federal government has paid $56m to the CLP government to dig a hole and fill it in,” she said in a statement.

“This Palmerston hospital situation is becoming laughable, the people of Palmerston deserve better than this absurd situation.”

The federal health department was questioned during estimates and confirmed it would be looking into the long delays in the delivery of the hospital.

The pour was initially thought to be among milestones which triggered a payment of $35m from the federal government but the federal health department later clarified the payments had nothing to do with this specific hole in the ground.

The federal government had already paid $21m for the build. The next payment of $20m is scheduled for May upon completion of the base being constructed, and the federal minister for health, Sussan Ley, said no funds would be released until project milestones were reached.

“The federal government continues to support the Palmerston hospital project – as evidenced by our $110m investment,” Ley told Guardian Australia in a statement.

“Our number one focus is to ensure this essential health infrastructure for the Territory is finished on time and on budget and the Commonwealth will continue to keep a close eye on progress to ensure this happens.

“Any impacts as a result of delays will be borne by the NT government.”

A spokesman for Griggs said the senator was involved in securing federal funding, but did not wish to comment on how the site was managed.



The stunt accusation is the latest in a series of controversies to have dogged the hospital. In July it was reported that treasurer David Tollner, who was minister for health at the time, allegedly threw a heavy folder at then chief minister Terry Mills during an argument over the hospital in March 2013.

Lend Lease has been contacted for comment.