Selena Uibo becomes first Indigenous woman to lead major party as NT Labor Opposition Leader

The Arnhem MLA has become the first Indigenous woman to lead a major party in Australia, and now faces the mammoth task of rebuilding the party after its wipe-out election defeat.

Territory Labor has announced Selena Uibo as Opposition Leader and Dheran Young as Deputy, after a wipe-out loss at the 2024 NT election. Uibo is the first Indigenous woman to lead a major party in Australia. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Territory Labor has elected Selena Uibo as Opposition Leader, making her the first Indigenous woman to lead a major party in Australia.

The Arnhem MLA was elected to the Northern Territory parliament in 2016 and has held several senior ministerial portfolios including Health, Education, Aboriginal Affairs, and Attorney-General.

Ms Uibo said the party would be conducting a post mortem on what went wrong in its wipe-out loss, and take time to “reset and refocus”.

“We have a lot of lessons to learn from the Territory election, we’ve heard loud and clear from Territorians that they wanted change, and we honour and respect that,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of blaming, I think it’s a matter of understanding what the change is that people wanted, understanding why it wasn’t Labor that could deliver that change, and learning from that.

“I can reassure Territorians that we will be working very hard as the Labor opposition to ensure the new CLP government is held to account, and that they deliver for Territorians as they’ve promised.”

Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said Labor had lessons to learn from its wipe-out loss. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Ms Uibo said she won the role with unanimous support from the remaining Labor caucus – the vote including Natasha Fyles despite her seat remaining in some doubt.

Daly MLA Dheran Young was elected as Deputy Opposition Leader.

Ms Uibo and Mr Young are not aligned with either the left or right faction within the Labor Party.

The remainder of the caucus are part of the left faction.

“The Labor Party values or Labor policies today haven’t changed,” Ms Uibo said.

“It’s day one of the leadership change for us. We will, of course, review what our policies are.”

Ms Uibo would not confirm whether former Deputy Chief Minister Chansey Paech made a bid for opposition leader.

On election night Mr Paech told reporters he would not rule out putting his hand up for the leadership role.

One Labor insider expected him to want the job, while others suggested his federal ambitions made him unlikely to take on the possible poisoned chalice of leading the embattled party through opposition.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Mr Paech said he had chosen not to nominate for the role.

“Timing is important in politics and right now it’s my time to focus on the bush, on what needs to be done to deliver fairness and equity for all Territorians, no matter where they live or the colour of their skin,” he said.

“Elections always deliver change. Making those changes can be bumpy and I want the transition to be as smooth as possible for everyone, including my colleagues and for Territory Labor. So I haven’t put my hand up to be Opposition Leader.”

Ms Uibo is a born and bred Territorian, and lives in Katherine.

She was a schoolteacher before entering politics, and was awarded the NT Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Originally published as Selena Uibo becomes first Indigenous woman to lead major party as NT Labor Opposition Leader