After Treasurer Dave Tollner’s unplanned admission that TBLs would become “permanent beat locations” threw the fifth floor into a momentary state of chaos, Mr Chandler threw out the handbook of hyperbole and demonstrated the kind of no-nonsense leadership that has been sorely lacking from the Country Liberal Party of late.

When quizzed about how the police presence in bottle shops would continue without a funding allocation in the 2015-16 budget, he insinuated that a plan had yet to be formulated, but was quick to add that it would have been impossible for the government to walk away from a trial that had effected such a dramatic reduction in alcohol-fuelled antisocial behaviour in Katherine.

The most refreshing aspect of Mr Chandler’s announcement was that he conceded TBLs did not provide a solution to the Territory’s rampant grog problem.

There is convincing anecdotal evidence that TBLs are doing nothing more than driving those who abuse alcohol out of Katherine and into places where it is easier to get their hands on it.

It would have been easy to avoid this glaring fact and simply bathe in the political kudos of the six-month trial’s visible success, but Mr Chandler called TBLs for what they are: making Katherine a more appealing place for both residents and visitors.

By doing so, he proved that he understood that TBLs meant much more than high-profile headlines and CLP point-scoring to the community.