NT voters head to the polls on Saturday to decide if Labor gets a third term

One side has been accused of using “dirty personal politics” as Northern Territory voters head to the polls.

The Northern Territory on Saturday will vote for its government for the next four years after a campaign largely dominated by the crime crisis.

Incumbent Chief Minister Eva Lawler is hoping to lead Labor to its third term in government, while Lia Finocchiaro is fighting to win at her second attempt as leader of the Country Liberal Party.

Ms Finocchiaro was one of the survivors of the CLP’s 2016 election disaster where it won only two seats in the 25-seat NT parliament.

The CLP now holds seven seats and will need another six seats to be able to form a majority government.

But Labor has had its own issues, with three leaders in the past three years.

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler is vying to lead Labor to a third term on Saturday. Picture: Lukas Coch/ Pool/ NewsWire

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro is hoping to lead the CLP back into government. Picture: Supplied. Picture: Instagram / @liafinocchiaromla

Ms Lawler became chief minister just before Christmas when Natasha Fyles quit over her failure to disclose mining shares. Ms Fyles succeeded Michael Gunner, who retired in 2022 for “family reasons”.

The 2024 campaign has been dominated by crime, which has made national headlines with a wave of lawlessness in Alice Springs that led to extraordinary curfews being imposed.

But the handling of the economy is also in focus.

The two leaders went head-to-head during a one-hour debate on Tuesday that at times became personal.

“Lia, are you tough enough to push back on your big donors?” Ms Lawler asked.

“I think that you are a lightweight and I don’t think you’re tough enough.”

Ms Finocchiaro replied: “Thank you, Eva, (you’re) a real treat.

“Eva, your entire campaign has been only about you. You disregarded your parliamentary colleagues, you disregarded your party.”

Ms Finocchiaro called Ms Lawler a ‘real treat’. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin-Pool/Getty Images

Ms Lawler was education minister before taking over as chief minister following the resignation of Natasha Fyles. Picture: NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Ms Finocchiaro said Saturday’s result would be close.

“We’re taking nothing for granted. We know that this is going to be a tight race,” she told Sky News Australia.

“Labor are increasingly getting desperate, using dirty personal politics … but we’re focused on the future.”

Eighty candidates are standing in the 25 seats in the Territory. Voting began two weeks ago and near half of the 153,250 eligible voters have already cast their votes.

A party needs to win 13 seats for majority government in the 25-seat parliament. Currently, Labor has 14 and the CLP seven, while there are four independents.

Voting on Saturday starts at 8am local time and closes at 6pm, with counting to continue until 11pm.

Originally published as NT voters head to the polls on Saturday to decide if Labor gets a third term