Infamous Aussie outback pub up for sale

Perth Now

2 days ago

An infamous Aussie pub at the centre of an eight-year-old outback mystery and a Netflix series that gripped the world has hit the market.
The Larrimah Hotel in the Northern Territory is for sale for the first time since the popular two-part series was released in 2023.
The show delved into the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty who was one of town's 12 residents and a regular at the pub when he went missing.
The Irish-born 70-year-old was last seen with his red kelpie cross Kellie leaving the Pink Panther Hotel in Larrimah on December 16, 2017.
Publican Steve Baldwin bought the pub from Barry Sharpe in 2018 not long after Mr Moriarty went missing. Paddy Moriarty lived in Larrimah for 11 years when he mysteriously disappeared after leaving the Larrimah Hotel in December 2017. Helen Orr Credit: News Corp Australia
The hotel is located about 500km south of Darwin in the middle of the Northern Territory along the Stuart Highway and is a popular stopover for travellers and tourists keen to know more about the town where Mr Moriarty disappeared.
Real estate agent Warren Andrews is selling the property listed for $795,00 saying, 'You have to see it to believe it'.
He describes the hotel as everything you would expect and want in a 'true blue Aussie bush pub.'
'From the pink panthers, the giant draught stubble, to the resident emus and crocodiles, this pub is steeped in history and mystique,' he said. Real Estate agent Warren Andrews said the classic Aussie bush pub had everything from pink panthers, giant stubbies, emus, crocodiles and was steeped in history and mystique. Jason Walls Credit: Supplied
Mr Baldwin told NewsWire there was more to the pub's history than the tale about one of its most regular punters disappearing.
'The pub will be 100 years old in five years, it was created during the war by the military and played a big part,' he said.
'We're at the end of the railway line from Darwin, where a lot of troops would come from down from, then go south to Alice Springs and then to Mount Isa and end up back here on the train.
'They built an airstrip here after the bombing in Darwin.
'There were nearly 10,000 people here which is huge, now there is eight.'
Mr Baldwin said three of its residents had died since Last Stop Larrimah first aired on Netflix.
'They were all geriatrics,' he said.
'According to Carl, who was in the Netflix show and lived across the road, he reckons there was no beer on tap here for about 30 years,' he said.
'There were taps in the cool room when I got here that weren't being used so we opened the place up and rebuilt the bar.' The Larrimah Hotel, also known as the Pink Panther Hotel, is located about 500km south of Darwin in the NT. Jason Walls Credit: Supplied
Mr Baldwin said it was hard to quantify how many visitors passed through the hotel each year but more and more people stopped to find out more about the mysterious town.
He said a new gas plant in the Beetaloo Basin was due to start soon which would bring more workers to the region.
The pub also comes with two crocodiles called Sneaky Sam and Agro that live out the back of the hotel and are fed by Mr Baldwin.
'We say we are selling the crocs and we'll chuck in the pub,' he said.
When asked how much a crocodile was worth, Mr Baldwin replied, '$795,000.' Publican Steve Baldwin said the NT government recently increased the reward to find out what happened to missing punter Paddy Moriarty to $500,000. Jason Walls Credit: Supplied
'I just want to slow down a bit and retire,' he said.
'It's a good opportunity for a low level entry into a good business that has lots of opportunity going forward.
'You don't often get a 100-year-old building here in the tropics, or in the Territory, or one at the centre of a Netflix series, and he still hasn't been found.
'There was a reward of $250,000 to find out what happened to Paddy Moriarty, and in the budget last week the treasurer upped it to $500,000.
'I don't know it will ever be solved, and the old publican has died.
'Fran still lives here, she's 81 years old now, she'll stand on the balcony or come in here and say, 'He's leaving, don't go missing now'.'