Gosling and Snowdon look likely to win
Labor has won one of the lower house Territory seats while the other is up in the air. See what all the major candidates had to say about their fortunes.
Northern Territory
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FOR what was ostensibly a victory party, the mood at Labor’s election night function at Marrara’s PINT club was funereal.
The incumbent Luke Gosling looked sure to hang on, albeit with a reduced margin.
In Lingiari, Warren Snowdon was on less certain ground but the party is counting on strong support in the bush booths to return him for a mind-boggling 13th term.
But federally, hopes of a Shorten government were dashed, so while the party is still on track to win both the NT seats, Mr Gosling and Mr Snowdon will be in opposition.
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Mr Gosling told the dejected crowd their time would come, though not today.
“In the future, I am sure we will see a Labor federal government which will bring to bear some of the visionary policies we’ve seen announced this campaign,” he said.
He accused the CLP of running a negative campaign.
“It’s always easy to run a scare campaign, but scare campaigns are not what leaders do. We have articulated a vision for Darwin and Palmerston,” he said.
ELECTION result: What it means for the Territory
At 11.30pm Mr Gosling had 52.27 per cent of the two-party preferred vote against Ms Ganley with 47.73 per cent of the vote with 71.81 per cent of the vote counted.
It has been a good night for the Greens with Solomon candidate Tim Parish picking up 11.82 per cent of the first preference vote, against community concern about the environmental impact of fracking.
GOSLING claims Solomon — sets his priority
While Mr Snowdon had 53.92 per cent of the two-party preferred vote against the CLP’s Jacinta Price’s 46.08 per cent with 57.05 per cent of the vote counted.
Returning Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy too spoke of her relief that the “nasty and vicious” campaign was over.
The CLP’s Kathy Ganley called Mr Gosling to concede the seat about 9.30pm.
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The mood was obviously also sombre at a post poll function in Cullen Bay, as a tearful Ms Ganley addressed a group of party faithful.
“A few moments ago I rang Luke Gosling and conceded my defeat for the seat of Solomon,” she said.
“While we weren’t successful in our fight to get the seat we were successful in retaining a Scott Morrison Federal Coalition.
The Fannie Bay mother of two spent the days leading up to today’s poll honing in on the Gunner Labor government’s chronic budget deficit to put her in with a shot for an upset victory.
“The last 14 months has been such a privilege just being out and about meeting so many Territorians. I’ve loved every minute of it.
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“But what’s most important to me now is this family that have supported me through the whole process.
“I just want to tell my daughter Nina that I will no longer be a holiday mum now, who’s only there for Easter and Christmas. I’ve got time to spend with Nina now.”
What looked like a sure ALP victory nationally has turned into a disaster.
There were fears a protest vote against the NT Labor Gunner Government would see the seats won by the CLP.
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Labor Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the Territory could still flourish under a Coalition Government.
“We did the city deal, we locked away the Jabiru deal (with the Coalition),” he said.
“We can do deals with Scott Morrison but what Labor was offering was a bigger, better package for the Territory.”
Mr Snowdon said while he was on tenterhooks every election he was pleased.
“I’m feeling good that I think we’ve retained the seat of Lingiari and the vote has held up really well in some places, we didn’t do too well in other places and the vote in the bush has been tremendous,” he said.
“That’s a really great reaffirmation of the work we have been doing for a really long time.
“It looks as though we may not win federally I hope we do, but at the end of the day I will be returned as the member for Lingiari I think with reduced majority.
“I always thought we would have a swing against us, not because of anything federally because we have a very high pull in the last election in terms of the urban vote in around the rural area of Darwin and that’s where we have gone backwards this time substantially.
“I’m on tenterhooks every election and I’m never ever gone into an election believing I could win easily, this was a tough election like every other, I mean the CLP candidate ran their campaign, I never took anything for granted, never do, but I am pleased that the outcome has come my way.
“I think people in the bush did absolutely, just in one part of the bush we got 91 per cent of a mobile booth, I think that’s tremendous and I think that will be replicated when we get the other results.”
A defiant Jacinta Price last night refused to concede defeat tonight, citing the pre-poll and postal votes still to be counted.
“I believe I am still in with a chance but it’s been a long night and I’m going to sleep right now,” she said.
“This campaign has been a hell of a lot of hard work but it’s been a real privilege for me to be able to meet and speak to so many people across the Lingiari electorate, she said.
“It has been a long time since Warren’s had this seat and I think a lot of people out there aren’t happy and want change.”
She also spoke of some of the biggest issues for Aboriginal people.
“So I think some of the biggest issues for me has been that people want jobs, people want stability and people want to stand on their own two feet,” she said.
“Aboriginal people are sick of being treated as second rate citizens, they want to be treated the same as other Australians and they want to run businesses.
“They don’t want to rely on Centrelink and those sorts of things and the wider community are the same.
“We are about coming from different backgrounds and doing things together and that’s really resonated throughout my campaign, but it’s about jobs, it’s about stability, it’s about housing and knowing that we can prosper, we can do all those things together.”
While win or lose tonight, Ms Price said she would be making a formal complaint to the Australian Election Commission about “undemocratic tactics” used by Labor during the election.
“I’ve compiled evidence of Labor volunteers, staffers … picking up vulnerable, elderly Aboriginal people off the streets putting them in buses and dropping them off at polling booths.
“I saw plenty of them today coming out of the buses with Labor how-to-vote cards and they wouldn’t talk to anyone else.
“They should be able to vote without that kind of pressure.”
Outgoing NT Senator and Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion said the results showed Territorians were “duped by the polls” this election.
“I think a lot of people believed the polls that there would be a Shorten Government, so they should vote local Labor people in that government — they got that wrong,” he said.
“Unfortunately we’ve still got a couple of duds now who are going to be in opposition, doing the same for what they’ve done for the Territory which is not a great deal.
“The Labor Party has broken the Territory and I don’t know if we’ll be able to put it together again
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