NT hero cop Mark Turner to stand for Labor against Terry Mills in seat of Blain

HERO police officer Mark Turner will take on Terry Mills in Blain at next year’s Territory election

Hero NT police officer Mark Turner will go up against Terry Mills in Blain at next year’s Territory election. Picture: NTPA

• DARWIN cops win national bravery award
• FORMER chief minister Terry Mills set to establish new NT political party

HERO police officer Mark Turner will go up against Terry Mills in Blain at next year’s Territory election.

Senior Constable Mark Turner is expected to be preselected for the Palmerston seat for Labor, giving the government a good chance to unseat the former CLP chief minister.

Sen-Constable Turner and his colleague Sen-Constable Linda Farrand were given National Bravery Awards from the Police Federation of Australia earlier this month.

EDITORIAL: The Battle for Blain just got interesting

The pair were honoured for their role in saving the life of a man threatening to jump off a cliff at the Darwin Esplanade in June.

At 3am, after a seven-hour negotiation, the man turned and ran towards the cliff after briefly being coaxed to safety.

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Sen-Constable Turner grabbed him before he could jump over the ledge.

At his award ceremony, Sen-Constable Turner said receiving the honour was “the proudest moment” of his career.”

“It’s what we do, it’s what we’re there for,” he said at the time.

Mr Mills, who has sat as an independent since 2016, is in the process of registering a new political party to be called the Territory Alliance.

Law and order will be a major battleground of next year’s election.

Mr Mills on Thursday announced his new party’s first policy – to create a new court to work alongside tradition courts. The “grassroots justice centres” would be targeted at early intervention.

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Mr Mills also called for the Territory Government to scrap its plans for a $60 million youth detention centre at Holtze.

The Country Liberal Party is yet to announce its candidate in Blain.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner gave Sen-Constable Turner his tick of approval.

“Mark Turner is an exceptional police officer who already serves our community in the bravest way possible,” he said. “If Mark is the calibre of candidate the Labor Party is attracting, then that is exactly what we want and of course I would welcome his nomination.”

Sen-Constable Turner was contacted for comment.