The closure of YiSSA this week has laid bare the cruelty and callousness of this CLP government decision.

It's a saga that has become increasingly costly, both to the Territory budget and to the lives of those affected.

With 300 beds, YiSSA was the largest short-stay and homelessness facility in the country. After the NT government's surprise announcement on July 15, that it would shut YiSSA's doors in just 90 days, I visited shocked residents and staff.

I spoke to a grandmother who was the sole carer for her grandchildren. Her daughter, their mother, had died by suicide, and she was left with nowhere to go and sought refuge at YiSSA. She told me the children were attending school and YiSSA gave them some stability and normality in their lives, allowing them to get an education.

Another woman pointed to a deep scar on her forehead and said, "a bad man did this to me".

YiSSA has given refuge to thousands of people over its lifetime. It was a safe facility with 24-hour security, private rooms and the offer of three meals a day. To be clear, residents paid per night to be there, and it was open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents.

It was my view that the vital role this facility played meant it could not be closed without a replacement and I was willing to have the Commonwealth contribute to keep it open. After ensuring the appropriateness of the Commonwealth's funding ability through the National Indigenous Australians Agency, I then made an approach to Minister Robyn Cahill.

I wanted the assets at YiSSA to be owned by Yilli Rreung, a well-respected and highly effective Aboriginal community-controlled organisation that had been operating the facility for years.

Ausco had outlined a $6.5m price that the Commonwealth offered to meet in full for Yilli Rreung to own. This is consistent with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reforms: that governments should be increasing services delivered by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. This offer was not accepted by Ms Cahill.

I persisted. The counter-offer was for the accommodation to be wholly owned by the NT government, with the Commonwealth to contribute $3.5m. I waited to see if there would be a counter-offer.

Until now, these negotiations had been happening in private. It was then that Ms Cahill and the Chief Minister took to the airwaves. First, the Chief Minister dismissed the offer as a waste of money. Then Ms Cahill called the funding conditions too much to accept.

I persisted. In media appearances and in a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley, the Federal Minister for Finance, Katy Gallagher and I reiterated the Commonwealth offer remained on the table.

The Australian Homelessness Conference was held in Darwin at the start of October, where stakeholder after stakeholder called for a solution. Still Ms Cahill rebuffed it all.

Then came the next shocking turn. Instead of extending the lease or negotiating a more acceptable deal with the Commonwealth, the CLP government announced a new facility in Batchelor.

According to their own press release, it would come at a cost of $18m - 100km south of Darwin, without adequate policing, medical or domestic violence services. Batchelor residents were rightly furious at the lack of consultation.

On October 12, the doors officially closed on YiSSA. The number of residents who made the move? Just 23 people. A scandalous waste of taxpayers' money, but the human cost is still unknown. Those cast out of the facility with nowhere to go. Back to partners it is not safe to be with, or to remote communities without dialysis facilities.

My priority in all of this has always been the families who needed this facility.

The CLP government's cruel decision will have a devastating impact on the lives of so many in need.

When we see more homeless people on our streets, we will know who put them there.

Malarndirri McCarthy is the federal Minister for Indigenous Australians, and a Senator for the Northern Territory.

This piece was first published in the Sunday Territorian.