NT News analysis: Lia Finocchiaro has now taken on the biggest job her life with the resignation of Gary Higgins

LIA Finocchiaro is now the Country Liberal Party’s major weapon in trying to destabilise the Gunner Government between now and the election in August ... but for how long?

Lia Finocchiaro is the CLP’s new Opposition Leader

LIA Finocchiaro is now the Country Liberal Party’s major weapon in trying to destabilise the Gunner Government between now and the election in August ... but for how long?

With the resignation of Gary Higgins, the pressure now falls well and truly onto the shoulders of Finocchiaro who has been in Territory parliament for eight years.

Aged 35, Finocchiaro has been a force to be reckoned with in the past 12 months leading to her being named No.14 on the NT News’ Most Powerful list — only one spot below Chief Minister Michael Gunner.

In a sense, she has almost been the default Opposition Leader.

While Higgins never really had any cut through in criticising Mr Gunner, Finocchiaro is a different kettle of fish and will play the role of an attack dog much better than Higgins.

She is aligned to serious political stock.

Her husband Sam Burke, who runs the Darwin Waterfront Corporation, is the son of former CLP Chief Minister Denis Burke.

She is the protege of Territory Alliance leader and former CLP Chief Minister Terry Mills and both of them still have a healthy relationship.

But now, Mills and Finocchiaro are also at war as leaders of the main two political parties looking to take government from Labor in August.

The question for Finocchiaro now is will the elecorate look at her as a genuinely alternative chief minister.

It is something the CLP, which is led by president Ron Kelly, will be watching very closely over the next month.

Much speculation has centered around whether or not the CLP will adopt a Campbell Newman-style leadership plot by naming a candidate, who isn’t even in parliament, as the alternative chief minister.

The names that have been bandied about in this space are former Cattlemen’s Association chief executive Tracey Hayes, Alice Springs Mayor Damien Ryan and Barkly Mayor Steve Edgington.

Whichever way you look at it, time is fast running out for the CLP to get their act together if they want any chance of being elected in August.

With Territory Alliance still in their infancy, there is every chance voters might stick to what they know and Gunner’s Labor team could waltz into another term of parliament, despite being unpopular in the electorate.

Territory politics is about to enter it’s most interesting seven-month period in a long, long time.

Watch this space and watch it closely.