The Kalymnian Brotherhood of Darwin is threatening legal action against the Northern Territory Government following a food safety dispute that forced the group to withdraw from the annual Darwin GleNTi Festival last month.
The Brotherhood, a not-for-profit community group, says it lost $150,000 in potential revenue after being directed by NT Health to dispose of two tonnes of octopus it had planned to serve at the major multicultural event.
Just days before GleNTi, NT Health issued a written directive labelling the octopus “unsuitable for consumption” due to alleged breaches of food safety standards. The Brotherhood was told to dispose of the seafood or face its seizure.
In response, the Brotherhood rejected the allegations as “false” and accused the department of acting unfairly and without proper evidence. The group ultimately pulled out of GleNTi – only the second time it has not participated since the festival began in 1988.
President of the Brotherhood and executive chef Themis Magoulias told The Greek Herald the incident has had a devastating impact on both her professionally and the organisation as a whole.
“They put my name into the dirt because I’m an executive chef by trade, and they can’t say that we didn’t know what we were doing. I’ve lost work now because of them,” Magoulias said.
The Brotherhood claims it followed standard food safety protocols, and in the days after the directive, set aside a frozen sample of the octopus for testing. That batch was later flown to South Australia and independently analysed by Summit Labs and SA Pathology, which found no dangerous bacteria or contamination.
“This proves that it’s not true [what they said],” Magoulias said. “We’re sick and tired of being accused of things we haven’t done.”
A volunteer associate member, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Greek Herald the group believes the incident was part of a broader pattern of hostility.
“This demonstrates a setup,” she said. “It was vexatious in nature, and all steps were taken to sabotage, as we suspected was happening at the time.”
She added that the reputational damage has been widespread. “We are now no longer being invited to other Greek community events and fundraisers… and it’s affected our ability to support seniors and the community.”
The Brotherhood has since issued a formal letter of demand to the NT Government, seeking compensation for financial loss, as well as a public apology. While the letter alleges procedural failures and misconduct by NT Health, the Brotherhood says it hopes to resolve the matter without going to court.
In a statement at the time of the incident, an NT Health spokesperson said its investigation found breaches of the Food Standards Code and that the decision to block the seafood was made in the interest of public safety.
“NT Health takes food and public safety very seriously and this action will have a very minor impact on what is a highly anticipated community event,” the spokesperson said.
The Brotherhood said it spent $45,000 on the seafood and had hoped to raise nearly double that amount through sales at GleNTi. Without that income, the group says it is now struggling to cover basic expenses.
*At the time of publication, the NT Government had not responded to The Greek Herald’s request for comment.
