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Mark: Very, very, very busy. Looking out the window now, the queue is going back about 30 meters in our pick-up area, I've got about 50 people in the store, and a queue out the door and around the corner. I can't see the end of it. It varies from year to year, but we'll probably serve 2000 people today.
They're imported from China specifically for Territory Day.What happens to the fireworks for the rest of the year?
The vast majority get sold, some leftovers get sold to commercial operators. The rest are put in storage in Alice Springs through the wet season; then we retest them next year, make sure they're good, and sell them all again!You obviously love fireworks, does it kill you to only set them off once a year?
Oh I have a license, I can set them off whenever I like. If I'm doing testing I go to a remote area, I just need to notify Worksafe and the fire brigade.
Occasionally. We did two Saturday nights ago. We went out to show my staff. Most of the time we're testing during the day to make sure they're safe, but you can't see the effects. So we went out to test them so we can explain to customers what they do and what they look like.
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Yeah, pretty much. We don't really bother checking our email from the 1st of July to May. Everyone during that time just wants to do something illegal.
Well Territorians are very, very, loyal to the Territory. There is a different vibe here, it's very different to the rest of Australia. They love doing things that are different and fun. They really don't like the nanny-state style of politics you get in places with larger populations. It's just one of the things they do to express their freedom—once a year we go set off a bunch of fireworks.I've been involved in fireworks all around the world for the last 14 years and I've never seen anything like the Northern Territory's passion for fireworks. Everyone loves them.
Not as much as you'd expect. These are all designed and tested to be safe from three meters back. When we test them, we set them off without securing them and if they fall over they fail. If you secure the item the odds of something going wrong are very low. It can happen, because they're handmade, but it's very low.Last year in the Territory we had 21 hospitalised injuries, most of them were from sparklers they sell in supermarkets.
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If you follow the instructions you're very safe. We have a lot of engagement on Facebook and if someone mentions an issue I'll be straight on there asking them what was the item? What happened? And what was the item number? If I'm aware of a problem we'll get rid of it for next year. Or redesign it, or do some additional tests to make sure the problem has been fixed.The last thing we want is people being hurt because that sort of thing can lead to a ban.Surely not everyone is in love with fireworks, you must face opposition.
Obviously there are some. But the percentage of the population that is anti, is relatively low. There was a petition a few years ago that got 600 signatures. To compare we did a quick petition last year of people who were pro fireworks and we got 7500 signatures in 12 hours.One last question before you go back to work, what's your favourite firework?
Oooo… favourite this year is probably still the Alice Arsenal. It's a fan shaped multi-shot that has 25 shots and it goes back and forth like a zig-zag pattern, it has a nice big wide effect with a glittering bouquet. It looks really good.Follow Wendy on Twitter: @wendywendsLiked this article? Like VICE on Facebook for more cool content