SEATS IN FOCUS: Labor voters could hold key in Araluen as Lambley and CLP go head to head

Labor voters will probably decide who wins the Alice Springs seat of Araluen, as two “big personalities” go head to head in the conservative stronghold.

LABOR voters will probably decide who wins the Alice Springs seat of Araluen, as two “big personalities” go head to head in the conservative stronghold.

Charles Darwin University academic Professor Rolf Gerritsen, based in Alice Springs, said he expected the race between Territory Alliance’s Robyn Lambley and CLP’s Damien Ryan to be tight.

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The seat of Araluen, until Ms Lambley defected from the CLP, has been held by no other party since its inception in 1983.

Incumbency is a powerful drug in Territory politics but Ms Lambley’s margin of 8.2 per cent will face competition from Mr Ryan’s large profile as long-time Mayor of Alice Springs Town Council.

“(He will) carry the bonuses of his profile from being mayor and the negatives … it’s hard to see how that will play out,” Prof Gerritsen said.

“Again that will be an electorate that will be decided by preferences … Labor voters may decide who wins that seat.”

NT Labor’s candidate in that seat is Jackson Ankers, a council worker and football coach.

Crime will be a hot-button issue in Alice Springs, alongside the Labor Government’s “Mexican stand-off” with the local council over the acquisition of Anzac Oval to turn it into an Aboriginal arts centre.

In parliament last week, Ms Lambley tabled a petition signed by 2118 people calling on the government to impose a youth curfew to “address the escalating problem of youth crime”.

Mr Ryan’s CLP candidacy while holding the council’s top job has also created tensions.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner, when asked for an update on the national Aboriginal art gallery in parliament last week, ripped into Alice Springs council, calling it “one of the most regressive entities” in the NT

“Unfortunately, there have been people in Alice Springs who have seemed to handbrake this development. That is a tragedy,” he said.

Territory Alliance candidate for Namatjira, Matt Paterson, is also an Alice Springs councillor.

Ms Lambley was re-elected in 2016 as an independent and though her two-party preferred vote share went down from 72.2 per cent to 58.2 per cent, she clinched effectively the same number of votes as she did in 2012.

She said she was “hopeful and optimistic” of being returned but would not be counting her chickens before they hatched.

CANDIDATES

Independant MLA Robyn Lambley Picture: Justin Kennedy

NAME: Robyn Lambley

PARTY: Territory Alliance

TELL US IN 100 WORDS OR LESS WHY PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE FOR YOU: For almost 10 years I have been the loud voice for the people of Araluen in the NT parliament. I have never backed away from a fight. I am no fence-sitter. I am honest, hardworking and dedicated. I am not interested in game playing or petty politics. My passion is to serve the interests of the people of Alice Springs and fight for their safety, wellbeing and lifestyle. Solid, effective and approachable: no one is better equipped to serve the people of Araluen.

Labor candidate for Araluen Jackson Ankers. Photo: EMMA MURRAY

NAME: Jackson Ankers

PARTY: Territory Labor

WHY PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE FOR YOU:

It is time to elect someone new to represent the people of Araluen.

I am an everyday Centralian whose primary goal is to amplify and uplift the community’s voices, not my own. I am running to represent a new Araluen. One centred around everyone. I am running for Labor because Labor delivers better schools, more youth services and programs, more police and more opportunities for business and industry. We need to look at things through the eyes of the people who live, work and choose to call Araluen home. I will put the needs and thoughts of the people in Araluen first, and be unwavering in my effort to work for them.

CLP candidate for Araluen Damien Ryan. Picture: EMMA MURRAY

NAME: Damien Ryan

PARTY: CLP

WHY PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE FOR YOU: A born and bred Territorian, my advocacy for my home town is fuelled by my passion for the Northern Territory. Our community’s future is depending on real change. Crime, jobs and opportunity are paramount concerns for all in Central Australia. I am dedicated and passionate to bring this to the forefront of government’s priority and policy making. I am part of a strong, unified, new CLP team, who puts the voice and concerns of Territorians first. I bring to this team – and the people of Araluen – strong financial, governance, enterprise and entrepreneurial skills. I will continue to immerse and participate in our diverse community and ensure representation for all.

SEAT HISTORY

ARALUEN has traditionally been a Country Liberal Party stronghold. Apart from Robyn Lambley, who left the CLP in 2015 to sit as an independent and eventually joined Territory Alliance, all MLAs in the seat since its inception in 1983 have been CLP members.

Pre-Lambley, the CLP’s hold on the seat was threatened just once, when Eric Poole retired in 2001.

Mr Poole still holds the record for longest-sitting Araluen MLA, holding the seat for 16 years.

The by-election in 2001 sparked by his retirement was hotly contested, including by two prominent independent candidates that almost delivered the seat to NT Labor.

CLP candidate Jodeen Carney, who eventually went on to become CLP leader, won the seat of Araluen by just 134 votes. This made it the CLP’s most marginal seat during that term.

Ms Carney romped it home for the CLP at the next election, increasing her margin by 5.3 per cent against a backdrop of an NT-wide swing toward Labor.

AREA/SUBURBS

Parts of central Alice Springs and the suburbs of Desert Springs, The Gap and Gillen as well as most of the suburb of Araluen. Voters north of Larapinta Dr have moved into the seat of Braitling, while voters east of the Todd have moved into Namatjira.

2016 RESULTS

Two party preferred

Robyn Lambley 58.2 per cent

CLP 41.8 per cent.

The redistribution is expected to increase Ms Lambley’s margin from 8.2 per cent to 8.6 per cent.

PREVIOUS MEMBERS

Jim Robertson: CLP 1983-1986

Eric Poole: CLP 1986 – 2001

Jodeen Carney: CLP 2001 – 2010

Robyn Lambley: CLP 2010 – 2015, independent 2015 – 2020, Territory Alliance 2020- Present.

VOTERS AS AT MAY 2020:

5626