The Northern Territory government has suspended all members of the Barkly Regional Council and placed the council under official management. 

The decision, announced this week by NT Local Government Minister Chansey Paech, comes as a response to growing concerns related to fiscal mismanagement and shortcomings in service delivery. 

Paech said he made the decision because “there are, or may be, serious deficiencies in the conduct of the Council's affairs”. 

“I have concerns that the Barkly Regional Council are not meeting their service delivery obligations,” he said. 

“They are concerns that have been raised with me over a period of time, they are concerns that I also share.”

The suspension comes shortly after public incidents involving Barkly Regional Council Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin. 

Despite public calls for his resignation after a video surfaced showing him pinning down an Indigenous boy, Minister Paech said that the decision was unrelated to the mayor's actions. 

He clarified that the primary reasons behind the suspension were fiscal management and service delivery concerns.

As part of this development, an investigation into the council's operations has been prepared, with any corruption allegations emerging during the investigation to be referred to the Northern Territory's Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC).

An official manager will now assume the responsibilities of the elected council members, with the investigation expected to conclude by next March. 

A new council chief executive is scheduled to commence their duties next month.

The Barkly Regional Council, which serves approximately 8,000 constituents across a vast area of around 325,000 square kilometres in the Northern Territory, has faced its share of challenges. 

Notably, a review initiated by the council last year reportedly exposed allegations of bullying and mismanagement, although its results were not made public.

Former long-serving Barkly councillor Hal Ruger, one of four councillors who abruptly resigned last December, welcomed the government's decision. 

“It's something that the community wanted because there [have] been concerns with the performance of councillors this time around,” he said.

“It's a good thing for the community that we get a clean room in there and we start again.”