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As the Northern Territory election nears, voters whose biggest worry is the rising cost of living say they are frustrated there haven't been more commitments from the major parties to tackle it.
In Darwin, defence base maintenance project manager Lara Dunkley and nurse Mia Thomas have been struggling to find an affordable rental.
The flatmates wanted to stay in Darwin long-term, but after their apartment lease ended, they were shocked to discover they couldn't find, or afford, another rental property.
"It's not fair that we should be having to make decisions like this, that it might come down to me having to move down south," Ms Dunkley said.
The pair are cynical about the major parties' promises to tackle the cost of living by increasing first home builder grants.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler has acknowledged the grants could drive up property prices.
And Ms Dunkley and Ms Thomas said it wouldn't help the 50 per cent of NT residents who rent.
"It's now unaffordable to buy houses, let alone rent, so what's the plan for us younger people — where do we live, where do we go?" Ms Thomas said.
"There needs to be a cap on the rental increases," Ms Dunkley said.
"People who work full-time should not be forced into a situation where they're homeless."
LoadingBusiness owners facing 'unprecedented hikes'
Business owners have expressed frustration there is little being offered to tackle the rising costs squeezing them, and their customers' wallets.
Darwin restaurateur Jason Hanna said cost pressures were hitting business owners hard.
"Our industry is going through unprecedented hikes in every element across the business, in every major food group, oil, electricity and wages," he said.
He said he hadn't been wooed by a Country Liberal Party (CLP) promise to reduce payroll tax, calling it a "tax on jobs" that did not go far enough.
Mr Hanna said politicians should tackle the high cost of flights to and from the NT, which he believes is deterring both visitors and people considering settling in the territory.
"Maybe some of the money given to Tourism NT could be refunnelled into some type of local airline scheme," he said.
'The pension won't stretch'
Among people on the lowest incomes, there's dismay that local politicians haven't tried to pressure supermarkets to cut prices.
Every week, Palmerston pensioner Phillip Hunter gets a lift to Foodbank to buy free or cheap groceries.
"If you go to the supermarket to buy meat, it's just too high, the prices are ridiculous," Mr Hunter said.
"These politicians … they're not interested in what we're getting, they're not arguing about the price of bread."
The former stockman said he often ended up short of money and had to take out Centrelink loans.
He said NT politicians should lobby Canberra to increase welfare payments.
"Finances are not enough for the pensioner," he said.
"The whole country's gone, it's not the lucky country anymore."
Remote price pressures taking a toll
While people in urban areas are struggling with living costs, in remote communities, food and other essentials can be up to 50 per cent higher.
In Gunbalanya — population 1,177 — located about 300 kilometres east of Darwin, about 61 per cent of people rely on welfare.
Western Arnhem Regional Council chairman and Centrelink worker Andy Garnarradj, who tries to help families in difficulty, said a lot of people are struggling.
"The cost of living we have in remote communities has skyrocketed. The community stores we have are very expensive," he said.
"There's no improvements, regardless of which governments keep promising improvements — there's no actions."
He also called for the NT government to push for welfare increases.
"The Centrelink payment is not much, individual payments need to go up," he said.
The store in Gunbalanya is run by the Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation (ALPA).
ALPA chief executive Alistair King said staff were seeing the impact of cost of living pressures in customers' purchases.
"We subsidise the freight on all fruit and veg into our stores, most dairy products and meat, but that only helps if you've got the money to buy it," he said.
"Welfare doesn't go up at CPI, and we've seen sales of fresh products plateau while people are trying to make their very restricted income last longer by buying processed food like bread — cheaper belly-fillers.
"I see a lot of people eating Weet-Bix breakfast, lunch and dinner."
Gunbalanya resident Trisha Dirdi, an assistant teacher, and her partner Anderson Dudanga, who works at the store, said their income barely stretched to cover everything they needed for their young family.
"Often we can't buy tinned meats, cordial, biscuits, and sometimes teabags and sugar, we cut out," Ms Dirdi said.
"We'd like the government to bring the prices down because it's really hard for us," Mr Dudanga said.
Like many in the community, the couple also struggle with electricity costs, and they regularly get cut off when they can't afford power cards.
Trisha Dirdi's sister, Madeleine Dirdi, worked until she got sick, and now relies on the dole to feed her six children.
She said costs were tight for her family.
"I get $830 a fortnight, but that's not much, because $250 a week gets taken out for rent, to pay Territory Housing," she said.
"By the second week, when I'm buying food, the food just runs out. Some of my family, they starve until the next fortnight."
Like many others in Gunbalanya, Madeleine Dirdi wants more government help, and urged the NT parties to push the Commonwealth for higher welfare payments.
"If they want us to vote for them, they should increase the payments," she said.
"I just want the prices to go down. We can't keep on living like this, it's been too long. It should be fair."