NT council elections latest: Doug Barden to lead the Litchfield council

UPDATE: Doug Barden has taken over reigns as Litchfield mayor from incumbent Maree Bredhauer, NT council election results have revealed. 

Residents turn out to vote at the council elections.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 13, 11.15AM:

LITCHFIELD councillor Doug Barden has been promoted to mayor, securing the win from incumbent Maree Bredhauer. 

The race was on between Mr Barden and Ms Bredhauer, with the former at 1962 and latter at 2290 in the first counts. Following preferences, Mr Barden pulled ahead with 4733 votes against Ms Bredhauer's 3923 votes. 

EARLIER: Matt Paterson is set for a big step up from former deputy mayor to mayor as he takes over as mayor from the long-serving Damien Ryan, NT council election results have revealed. 

After winning out on preferences ahead of Jimmy Cocking and Eli Melky, who were both returned to council.Mr Paterson, who has served on the town council for several years, was declared mayor with a margin of just nine votes between him and Mr Cocking.

The trio will be joined by newcomers Mark Coffey, Marli Banks, Steve Brown, Kim Hopper, Allison Bitar and Michael Liddle.

Outgoing mayor Mr Ryan took to social media to thank the people of Alice Springs for his tenure.

“I will forever fight for the people of Alice Springs and the Northern Territory,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

“Alice Springs has always been my home — and I am lucky to have served for — and with — a culturally rich, diverse and passionate community.”

Meanwhile Litchfield has a new mayor in Doug Barden after he bested Maree Bredhauer on preferences.

Residents will also be represented by Andrew Mackay, Kev Harlan, Rachael Wright, Mathew Salter, Emma Sharp and Mark Sidey.

Mr Barden said building a team would be the first order of business under his leadership.

“I’ll basically just see what the rest of the team wants to to do,” he said. “It’s a team of seven people, I’m only one person in a team (but) the team looks good.”

Mr Barden said he would try to talk up the region’s positives during his term as mayor.

“We don’t want to be negative, we want to be positive,” he said.

“So basically see what (the other councillors’) priorities are and work on the positives.”

Lis Clark has been elected mayor in Katherine, with councillors Kym Henderson, Jeremy Trembath, Maddy Bower, Ben Herdon, Amanda Kingdon, Denis Coburn.

EARLIER: LAKSA queen Amye Un will sit on the Darwin council, after a surprising turn of votes elected her an alderman in the Lyons Ward.

Ms Un, who also ran for mayor but was dwarfed by incumbent Kon Vatskalis, was elected alongside incumbents Mick Palmer and Paul Arnold.

Darwin’s Chan Ward will be represented by Peter Pangquee, Morgan Rickard and Ed Smelt.

Both Mr Rickard and Mr Smelt, who was endorsed by Labor Chief Minister Michael Gunner, are new to council.

In the Richardson Ward, Jimmy Bouhoris and Rebecca Want de Rowe were re-elected, alongside newbie Vim Sharma.

Finally, Darwin’s Waters Ward will be represented by two newcomers, Sylvia Klonaris and Brian O’Gallagher, as well as incumbent Justine Glover.

EARLIER: LORD Mayoral candidate, former alderman and recent victim of youth crime Gary Haslett looks set to lose his seat on the Darwin council.

Mr Haslett ran for both mayor and Waters ward alderman in last week’s election but brought in just 8.5 per cent of first preference votes by the latest count on Friday.

Instead, Waters looks likely to be represented by newcomers Sylvia Klonaris and Brian O’Gallagher, as well as incumbent Justine Glover.

Mr Haslett was most popular in the early voting centre of Casuarina, near where he was attacked by youths in the carpark only weeks earlier.

Jeffrey McLaughlin is leading the race for mayor in Barkly, with almost 46 per cent of the vote.

Hal Ruger trails behind with 23.91 per cent of first preference votes.

UPDATED: INCUMBENT Litchfield Mayor Maree Bredhauer is leading the count, but preferences will be needed to decide the winner of the Top End council.

Ms Bredhauer, who won the last two elections outright without needing any preferences, has had a dramatic fall owing to strong competition from Doug Barden and Andrew Mackay.

She is currently leading the race with 2150 votes, compared to Mr Barden’s 1833.

Ms Bredhauer refused to say what had contributed to the decline in her vote.

But the two-term mayor said she was “very happy with the result thus far”.

“I’ve not had so many (alternative candidates) against me as I have this time.

“I’m proud of the work which has been done in terms of governance, in terms of improving the amenity for the area, in terms of roads and improvements to our reserves, and engagement of the community.”

Ms Bredhauer said her scrutineers had seen preferences “were going all over the place”, and thus an ultimate result won’t be known until September 10.

First preference runner-up Doug Barden, who previously served as a councillor for the South Ward, said he was holding out hope to win.

“I’m quietly confident that I will get most of the second preferences,” Mr Barden said.

He said most other candidates had ranked him above Ms Bredhauer on their how to vote cards.

LATEST AUGUST 29, 2.35PM:

COUNTING for the 2021 Local Government Elections will continue in Darwin and Alice Springs on Monday from 9am.

A release from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission stated in Darwin returned postal votes will be counted for the Litchfield Shire and Katherine Town Council elections first.

A recheck of the first preference count from Saturday night will follow.

In Alice Springs postal votes for the Alice Springs Town Council will be counted first, followed by a recheck of Saturday’s first preference count.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 28 11.45PM:

TURNOUT for the Northern Territory’s local government elections on Saturday was slightly up, bucking long-term trends.

But results for some tight contests might not be known for a fortnight, with preferences likely to determine who becomes mayor in some key races.

Around 58.7 per cent of eligible voters had their ballots counted on Saturday, with some postal and declaration votes hoped to push the turnout above 60 per cent. The result is well above 2017’s total turnout of 58.5 per cent.

Roughly 4000 of the 8000 postal votes have so far been returned to the Electoral Commission, but are yet to be added to each candidate’s tallies.

NT Electoral Commissioner Iain Loganathan said the result bucked the trend of previous elections.

“Turnout is probably on par or slightly better than 2017. We still don’t know how many postal votes will eventually come in over the next two weeks,” Mr Loganathan said.

“There has been a gradual decline in turnout in local government elections.

“I’m pleased the trend is up but there’s still a long way to go.”

Northern Territory Electoral Commissioner Iain Loganathan said the increase in voter turnout was encouraging. Picture: Thomas Morgan

Mr Loganathan said queues at polling booths on Saturday were long as a result of the higher turnout, with residents in Nightcliff lining up for up to 30 minutes to cast their vote.

“It’s just one of those things – sometimes democracy takes a little bit of time,” he said.

Preliminary counts conducted on Saturday night produced mixed results, with the results of some key contests already certain while others remained unknown.

“In Darwin and Palmerston, the incumbent mayors (Kon Vatskalis and Athina Pascoe-Bell) have significant leads,” Mr Loganathan said.

“The Mayor contest is certainly a lot closer in Litchfield and in Katherine. In those contests it will come down to preferences. In that case, we’ll have to wait until those votes come in and then those preferences will be distributed.”

Final preference tallies will be known on September 10.

Kon Vatskalis has comfortably won re-election for Darwin Lord Mayor. Picture: Che Chorley

City of Palmerston Mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell received over 70 per cent of the vote. Photograph: Che Chorley

Litchfield’s mayoral race looks set for a three-way showdown, with Maree Bredhauer (1745 votes) leading, followed by Doug Barden (1559) and Andrew Mackay (1301).

Each of Litchfield’s three wards will elect two councillors each, but none of the candidates appear to have enough votes to win a seat without preferences.

In Katherine, Kevin South (1055 votes) was in the lead over incumbent mayor Lis Clark (920 votes)

Katherine voters only had months rather than years to assess whether to re-elect Ms Clark, who was only appointed mayor in December 2020 after her popular predecessor Fay Miller resigned.

Preferences will play a crucial role in determining whether Mr South or Ms Clark will be elected mayor.

There are 15 candidates for six councillor positions in Katherine.

Counting in the Northern Territory local government elections. Picture: Thomas Morgan

In Alice Springs, mayoral frontrunner Jimmy Cocking attracted 30.4 per cent of the vote but will need preferences to see off any challengers.

In the race for Barkly Regional Council, Jeffrey McLaughlin (678 votes) was well ahead of Hal Ruger (344) in a four-horse race for mayor.

The Greens meanwhile have celebrated a strong performance from their three candidates: Morgan Rickard in Darwin’s Chan Ward, Emily Webster in Alice Springs and Dianne Stokes in the Barkly’s Patta Ward.

A spokesman for the progressive party said they were happy with the result, even though a final result for all three was less than clear.

“The Greens candidates are looking good in Darwin and the Barkly and our candidate Emily Webster in Alice has a very good chance, but it will depend on preferences.”

UPDATE 9.25PM: DARWIN’S incumbent Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis is on track to be re-elected, holding over half of the first-preference vote as of 8.42pm

Meanwhile, results from Darwin’s four wards are trickling in, with four aldermen to be elected in each.

In Chan, representing the leafy Northern suburbs of Nightcliff, Rapid Creek, Millner and Fannie Bay, Morgan Rickard, Peter Pangquee and Ed Smelt are leading on first preferences.

In Lyons, representing the CBD, Larrakeyah, Stuart Park and Parap, Paul Arnold, Mick Palmer and Adam Troyn are leading on first preferences.

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis looks on track to be re-elected. Picture: Che Chorley

In Richardson, taking in the Northern suburbs from Alawa to Buffalo Creek including Casuarina, Jimmy Bouhoris, Rebecca Want de Rowe and Vim Sharma were the top three.

In Waters, taking in Winnellie to Malak, Sylvia Klonaris has taken a strong lead, followed by Brian O’Gallagher and Justine Glover.

UPDATE 9PM: PALMERSTON MayorAthina Pascoe-Bell looks likely to be re-elected for another four years, in a voting blowout against her competitors Ryan Pettifer and Raj Samson Rajwin.

Ms Pascoe-Bell has 8744 votes as of 9pm, towering over the other two mayoral candidates with less than 2000 votes each.

That translates to over 75 per cent of the Palmerston vote flowing to her.

Speaking to the NT News, Ms Pascoe-Bell thanks her constituents for a vote of confidence.

“I’d like to thank everyone in Palmerston for their continued support, and I look forward to working with them for the next four years,” she said.

City of Palmerston Mayor Athina Pascoe-Bell looks likely to be re-elected. Photograph: Che Chorley

“I don’t think the others will be able to catch me at this stage.”

Ms Pascoe-Bell said the resounding endorsement came because of the hard work council had put in during their last term.

“I’ve had to take the council from what it was last term to an organisation which really does work for its community and delivers on a lot of outcomes,” she said.

UPDATE 8.10PM: TURNOUT at this year’s local government elections is expected to be higher than 2017 elections, the NT News understands.

It comes as incumbent Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis continues to run up the score in Darwin.

Mr Vatskalis has so far snagged 3415 of the 5872 votes counted thus far.

Athina Pascoe-Bell in neighbouring Palmerston looks even more secure, with over two-thirds of the vote so far trending her way.

At this rate, both Mr Vatskalis and Ms Pascoe-Bell will be returned to their posts without needing any preferences.

In Alice Springs, Jimmy Cocking has taken the biggest share of votes so far (1230), with over 25 per cent of the vote counted in the Red Centre.

Mr Cocking has only secured a third of the vote however, meaning preferences will be crucial to deciding who becomes mayor.

UPDATE 7.25PM: INCUMBENTS are shaping up to be the big winners in the Territory’s two biggest local councils, early results suggest.

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has taken a commanding lead in the early counting of the local government elections.

Mr Vatskalis has clinched 473 of the 838 votes counted thus far, followed by Laksa Queen Amye Un on 131.

In Palmerston, Athina Pascoe-Bell has 1742 of the 2389 votes counted as of 7.25pm.

Litchfield is much closer, with Doug Barden narrowly leading Maree Bredhauer 483 to 407.

Jimmy Cocking is ahead in Alice Springs on 706 votes, followed by Matt Paterson on 602 votes.

Counting in the Northern Territory local government elections. Picture: Thomas Morgan

UPDATED: Polls have closed in the NT’s local government elections.

Counting of mayoral candidates votes will now get underway, after polls closed at 6pm Saturday.

As of 6.25pm Saturday, no results are yet to be uploaded by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission.

Live updates to come.

EARLIER: TERRITORIANS have turned out in force to vote, with lines taking more than half an hour at some polling stations.

Eager voters at the Nightcliff Middle School have waited more than 30 minutes to cast their ballot, with Darwin’s Chan Ward candidates including Ed Smelt and Morgan Rickard making their last pitch to constituents.

Long lines for the local government elections in Nightcliff @TheNTNewspic.twitter.com/w2xO42ElH4

— Thomas Morgan (@thomasmorgan22) August 28, 2021

In Darwin, voters are being asked to choose their local Aldermen as well as who they want to lead the city as Lord Mayor.

At the Darwin Entertainment Centre, Mick Palmer was chatting with voters in an effort to convince them to re-elect him to a spot representing them in the Lyons Ward.

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