UPDATED: Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro is currently in Canberra to plead with the Federal Government for more money to help with flood recovery efforts across the Territory, while her Education Minister spread “speculation” on social media Monday morning that the NT Government will have to pay for 50 ADF personnel from RAAF Base Tindal to assist with cleaning up the Katherine area – which was later confirmed as false.

Ms Finocchiaro directly requested the ADF’s assistance, but apparently did not confirm who would pay for it.

It was later confirmed by Labor Member for Lingiari that the Federal Government will not seek costs from the NT Government for the ADF’s assistance with flood recovery efforts.

The ADF personnel for Katherine was announced on Sunday by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“To everyone doing it tough right now, know we are with you through the response and through the recovery,” Mr Albanese posted to X on Sunday.

Member for Katherine Jo Hersey posted to Facebook Monday morning, asking the public: “Should the Federal Government charge Katherine taxpayers for ADF support?”

Without verifying that or claiming she had been told the NT would be billed for the costs of the personnel, Ms Hersey wrote that she was “shocked and devastated to hear any support may come at a hefty price”.

“If the speculation going around our town is true, and I truly hope it is not, this is an absolute disgrace,” Ms Hersey wrote.

It was unclear who started the “speculation going around town”.

“We are all in the worst possible flooding event in decades. People have lost their livelihoods, their whole world has come crashing down,” Ms Hersey wrote.

“I’m just hoping this speculation isn’t true.”

Ms Finocchiaro’s office did not immediately respond to the NT Independent’s questions Monday morning about why Ms Hersey would raise the costs issue without confirming who was in fact paying for the ADF personnel.

The lack of verification spilled over into an NT News article written by Gary Shipway, whose partner works for the Chief Minister – which was not disclosed – with his article stating it was “a shock development” that the NT “may well” be charged for the ADF’s involvement.

It was later revealed that was not the case, with Ms Hersey blocking the comments on her initial Facebook post.

The CLP then appeared to leak documents to the NT News in the afternoon that the paper claimed showed the NT “was facing a six figure bill for ADF personnel”, but did not publish the document, which it claimed was a “deed of agreement sent by Defence to the NT Government”. The document was also not quoted from directly.

The paper reported the fee was “waived”.

Ms Hersey later shared the NT News story reporting the leaked alleged documents on Facebook and said she was thankful the Federal Government “has now backtracked”.

Ms Finocchiaro’s office did not respond to follow-up questions about why Ms Hersey did not reference the alleged documents in her initial Facebook post and instead relied on “speculation going around town”.

Ms Finocchiaro said on Mix 104.9 Monday morning that “a lot” of ADF personnel had already been out in Katherine volunteering their time to help clean up and added 14 low-security prisoners and four corrections staff are “ready to rock and roll” and have also been assisting.

“I think that’ll give everyone a bit of a lift,” she said. “People are getting fatigue, as you can absolutely appreciate. So, this will be a new lease of life.”

Asked if the NT Government would have to pay for the ADF personnel, Ms Finocchiaro said, “we certainly hope that isn’t the case”, adding she was “asked by our federal counterparts to make the request”, presumably referring to the Territory’s federal Labor MPs and Senator.

Again, her office declined to later comment on why she would tell the public that on radio if she was aware of alleged documents that showed the NT was to be charged for the ADF personnel.

Ms Finocchiaro said she would be meeting with the federal Defence Minister to discuss the costs issue later today while still in Canberra.

“I do believe sometimes the feds do send a bill,” she said. “So, I’m just, I’m very hopeful that we can make sure that this time we’re not getting one.

“Obviously, the damage is so extensive and Territory-wide. We’ve activated the disaster relief funding, which is 50/50 with the Federal Government, so the Territory is still going to have an enormous, enormous bill at the end of all of this and we’ve got to make sure we’re rebuilding everything and where we can, rebuild it better, so that we’re not experiencing this level of destruction again.”

It was unclear what specific rebuilding projects Ms Finocchiaro was referring.

She was not asked why she did not confirm who was paying for the military personnel before accepting the offer and making public comments.

The Prime Minister’s Office also did not respond to questions Monday asking who would pay for the ADF’s assistance in Katherine, but Ms Scrymgour posted in a Katherine social media group just after noon that she was “confirming that ADF will not seek costs from the NT Government for flood recovery”.

“Many of the ADF members assisting in the flood response are part of the Katherine community and they’re deeply committed to helping their neighbours through this challenging time,” she wrote.

“Even before receiving this request, many have been contributing to community-wide flood response efforts in their own time by helping local groups or assisting friends and neighbours.

“This is a time to stick together.”

Flood damage could cost tens of millions, ‘big map’ brought to Canberra for ‘fantastic meetings’: CM

Ms Finocchiaro said she had met with Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Infrastructure Minister Catherine King as part of “fantastic meetings this morning”. She added she had brought a “big map” of the Northern Territory to illustrate the damage to many communities from Alice Springs to Daly River over the last three months of flooding.

Ms Finocchiaro pointed to flood damage on arterial highways, like the Stuart Highway, as well as the bridge to Jilkminggen on the Roper Highway being washed away, as some of the “really significant” infrastructure that would need to be repaired, which she hoped would be covered by the Federal Government.

“Flood waters haven’t even subsided, but we’re here to make sure we can give the greatest understanding possible in Canberra, where the big dollars and the big decisions are made, in the hopes we can pre-position the Territory moving forward,” she said.

Ms Finocchiaro previously suggested the flood damage bill could be tens of millions of dollars.

The ADF personnel will assist in Katherine for 10 to 14 days, Territories Minister Kristy McBain told the ABC.

It was unclear if the ADF will be used at Daly River, that has seen record flooding with most homes submerged in floodwaters up to the roof.