The Fyles Government has announced $3 million from the upcoming 2023 Budget will be spent on the “streetscape revitalisation” of Smith Street, which the Opposition says shows the government is “out of touch” and should be spending that money on reducing crime if it wants more people in the CBD.

The government said the cooling and greening initiative of Smith Street, between Knuckey and Whitfield streets, is a part of the 10-year program to transform Darwin into a vibrant and liveable tropical city.

Despite the Cavenagh Street shade structure’s failure to serve its purpose after nearly five years, the government is committed to implementing its plan to deliver the $3 million upgrade along Smith Street.

“Smith Street is the heart of Darwin’s CBD. It is where Territorians and tourists alike come to relax, shop and socialise,” Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler said.

“This is a project that will beautify and cool a key area of our CBD.”

This project is due to commence in early 2024 and be completed by 2025.

But the spend has been criticised by the Opposition CLP who said the spending announcement shows a “complete disrespect for taxpayer money”.

“Every time you think this Labor Government couldn’t possibly be more out of touch, they take it up a notch,” Deputy Leader Gerard Maley said.

“If Labor want more people to come to our city they need to take immediate action on crime, which every Territorian knows is the number one deterrent to tourists.

“We need to focus on crime and health and education and all those frontlien workers that have been doing it tough for such a long time.”

Ms Lawler, who is also Treasurer, said the objectives of cooling and greening the CBD on Smith Street would be achieved through “the planting of shade trees, improved green spaces and better pedestrian access”.

The Cavenagh Street shade structure costs taxpayers $100,000 annually to maintain—the cost of pruning, fertilising and irrigating the slow-growing vines, which is more than double what was initially estimated by the government.

The structure also ended up costing $3.3 million to design and build, according government documents obtained by the ABC through Freedom of Information laws last year.

The data also revealed that the shade structure had only reduced maximum temperatures by less than a single degree.

However, Ms Lawler maintained that continuing the government’s urban greening and cooling strategies will mitigate heat in the CBD, increase public amenities and pedestrian traffic, decrease energy usage, and increase the economic benefit by encouraging people to stay longer in the retail, commercial and recreational areas.

Details of what that means and what work would actually be undertaken were not provided.