Ngaree Ah Kit gets frontbench promotion
Caucus has met to decide who of three candidates would become the Territory’s newest cabinet minister.
Northern Territory
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KARAMA MLA and Speaker Ngaree Ah Kit has won a cabinet spot after Labor caucus voted on Friday.
Ms Ah Kit won 8-6 over government backbencher Mark Monaghan, while Joel Bowden opted not to run, sources have told the NT News.
Ms Ah Kit will have to vacate the Speaker’s position to take up the role.
There’s still no word on what portfolios she will hold.
It isn’t yet clear which ministers have been allocated which portfolios.
Mr Bowden is currently deputy Speaker, while Mr Monaghan is government whip.
Ms Ah Kit’s elevation to cabinet leaves the speaker position potentially open to Mr Bowden, while Mr Monaghan could remain as whip.
“It is an honour to be selected by my peers to be the next minister of the 14th legislative assembly,” Ms Ah Kit said in a statement on Friday.
“I am looking forward to my new role, and will embrace portfolios and duties required of me.
“I’m proud to acknowledge my dad’s legacy that he left serving Territorians for 10 years, and I look forward to creating my own.
“I thank my constituents and look forward to representing them and all Territorians.”
Joel Bowden, Mark Monaghan and Ngaree Ah Kit pushing for frontbench promotion
LABOR caucus will hold a ballot on Friday morning to decide who will get a promotion into cabinet.
The NT News understands speaker Ngaree Ah Kit, as well as government backbenchers Mark Monaghan and Joel Bowden are pushing for a promotion.
But only one spot in cabinet is believed to be up for grabs, after the departure of Michael Gunner from the Chief Ministry to the backbench.
The caucus will vote for which of the three will be promoted on Friday, amid a reshuffle of cabinet following the victory of Natasha Fyles in a leadership race last week.
Mr Bowden was understood to be pushing for a cabinet promotion into an economics-focused portfolio during last week’s leadership race.
Ms Ah Kit, who is currently the speaker, was rumoured over the weekend to be looking for a cabinet upgrade. She would vacate the speaker’s chair, meaning someone else would need to be put in the position.
Mr Monaghan is the government whip and his elevation into cabinet would mean someone else would need to be appointed to the crucial position.
Manison to stay on as NT deputy Chief Minister
NICOLE Manison will stay on as the NT’s Deputy Chief Minister, Natasha Fyles — the newly-minted Territory Chief Minister — has revealed.
The new Chief Minister took to Facebook to say she was “thrilled to announce” Ms Manison had been appointed her deputy.
“Colleagues for nearly a decade, we’ve seen one another through five children and have stuck together through the best of times and the worst of times,” Ms Fyles wrote.
“It is my privilege to have her by my side.”
Commenters on Facebook were mainly positive, with one person describing it as the “A team”.
Another said they were the “dynamic duo”.
Ms Manison unsuccessfully pushed to become Chief Minister herself in Friday’s caucus meeting, defeated by Ms Fyles after some within her faction reportedly switched sides.
Nicole Manison implies she’d like to remain deputy Chief Minister
NICOLE Manison has implied she would like to remain the NT’s deputy Chief Minister as Natasha Fyles prepares to shake up her cabinet.
At a press conference on Tuesday, when asked if she would like to stay in the role, Ms Manison said: “I’m a very dedicated deputy Chief Minister.”
“That is the role I’m still fulfilling and I certainly have been very committed to it and I intend to stay committed to it,” she said.
When asked if she wished to keep her Police portfolio, she said: “I will do whatever job is given to me by the Chief Minister.”
“It is really important that when you work in the cabinet and you work in government that you know that you do not own a single job,” she said.
“Whatever jobs that the Chief Minister gives me, I will do I absolutely do to the best of my abilities.”
Ngaree Ah Kit for cabinet? How Fyles could reshuffle team
LABOR heavyweights could be dropped from cabinet in next week’s ministerial reshuffle, as recriminations and bloodletting continue to erupt along the party’s factional divides.
The Right remains convinced Lauren Moss and Kate Worden switched allegiances to back Natasha Fyles to become the new Chief Minister, despite other sources claiming at least one of them remained faithful to Nicole Manison.
Sources also remain split on whether Joel Bowden may move into cabinet, with theories ranging from him becoming Treasurer to him remaining as a humble backbencher.
Mr Bowden was understood to be counting the numbers through the week, before Ms Fyles, a factional ally, emerged as The Left’s favourite. It was rumoured he was seeking an economic portfolio in exchange for not challenging.
Mr Bowden is currently Deputy Speaker.
Another backbencher, Mark Monaghan, is also tipped for a cabinet posting.
There is consensus on both sides of the factional divide that Ngaree Ah Kit will move into cabinet.
Ms Ah Kit has been the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for the past two years.
The fate of Ms Manison also remains in doubt — some think she could head to the backbench.
Over the next week, the Right will determine its negotiating position and whether it can at least secure one of its own to be Deputy Chief Minister. Ms Manison is currently the Deputy Chief Minister, but Ms Fyles has repeatedly failed to clarify whether she would stay in the role by the end of the reshuffle.
“This is a big week and so we will take the time over the next couple of days, around what people want to see in the cabinet going forward,” she told the NT News on Friday afternoon.
The fate of Attorney-General Selena Uibo, who is understood to have backed Ms Manison, is also under a cloud of doubt.
Ms Fyles would not say what was offered to certain people to secure their support.
“As you know, I’m a straight talker. I’m upfront. I put myself forward,” she said.
The Right faction has been left reeling after their unexpected loss, after controlling the Labor leadership for nearly 50 years.
Multiple sources on the Right said on Friday and Saturday they were angry.
Staffing on the Fifth Floor was also shaken up within hours of Ms Fyles winning the leadership, with several high profile departures including senior advisers, media handlers and speech writers.
Mr Gunner’s chief-of-staff Emily Beresford-Cane was among those who left.
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