For starters, there were no mobile phones or internet. Bob Hawke was Prime Minister, and Midnight Oil’s politically charged Beds are Burning was topping the charts, shining a spotlight on the plight of Aboriginal communities living in remote Australia.

For the Canberra-born “man with the mo”, spending more than three decades in politics representing one of the nation’s largest and most unforgiving electorates was never “the plan”.

“The first election that I was in, we weren’t favourites,” says Snowdon. “I had to win the seat off the CLP, and when I did, I thought, ‘Well, that’s good’.

“And lo and behold, I kept winning.”

At the upcoming federal election, the Northern Territory’s longest serving MP will retire from politics. The Labor stalwart’s exit will mark the end of an era of politicians from the days of the Old Parliament House.

But the 72-year-old’s retirement has also become a wildcard this election, opening the floodgates to a fierce battle for his long-held seat of Lingiari.

A pollie of the old school

Over his years in the role – which included just one election loss, in 1996 – his old-school, authentic and colourful personality shone through.

From the get go, he clearly stated his priority was to advocate for the interests of Indigenous Australians and improve their lives. The outcomes, he says, have often been frustrating and disappointing.

The Labor MP’s tenure was not without controversy. When the alleged misuse of taxpayer money to take a RAAF jet to Tennant Creek to judge a dog show was broached, he was quick to respond: “I learned long ago that people talk tripe and expect you to react well. Well, I’m not interested in reacting anymore.”

Growing up in Canberra, Snowdon attended Australian National University and then Murdoch University to train as a teacher, before taking up a post in the Top End.

In the early 1980s he returned to his hometown to work on a project with H.C. “Nugget” Coombs, researching the Central Desert for almost three years.

Snowdon decided to move back to the Territory as a Commonwealth-sponsored teacher, then switched to a gig at the newly established Central Land Council. This experience, he says, was formative and one of his first exposures to what he described as the “absolutely appalling treatment” of Aboriginal people.

Taking the political plunge

Throughout his early years in the Territory, Snowdon was an active unionist. He became heavily involved in the Trades and Labour Council and the Northern Territory Teachers Federation (today known as the Australian Education Union NT).

It was his community-minded spirit that helped establish a rugby union league in the Territory, a relatively out-of-favour code at the time.

“When I first arrived, there was no rugby,” says Snowdon.

“I saw an ad in the paper, a bloke named Dave Cooper was having a barbecue and trying to get people together, so I went along.”

By early 1986, Snowdon and his group of mates had started playing touch rugby in Alice Springs. And by the start of the following year, there were enough rugby enthusiasts for six teams.

Before he took office, Snowdon was known to be a strong critic of the CLP administration, which dominated government in the Northern Territory’s early years.

The young unionist would attend protests, including pushes for better wages for teachers and disputes over housing for teachers working out bush.

“I thought to myself, ‘Well, you can stay on the outside looking in or you can get on the inside and try and make a difference’,” the 72-year-old says. “That’s what led me to become a politician.”

Asked about his accomplishments in parliament, Snowdon said any achievements were not truly his own but the result of many people in government working together.

“I might have been the signatory on the bottom of the paper but the work was done by many others,” he says.

“I wouldn’t be claiming anything for myself, really.”

Taking a leaf out of the current prime minister’s book, Snowdon said he’ll leave it to others to determine his legacy, adding that he doesn’t feel comfortable parading his accomplishments because he was just doing his job – serving the people of the Northern Territory.

Highs and lows

2007 was a year Snowdon will never forget.

On one hand, it was a low point filled with regrets over his perceived failure to stop the Northern Territory Emergency Response – the Intervention – occurring.

Responding to a report claiming neglect and sexual abuse had reached crisis levels in the Northern Territory, the Howard government introduced a strew of controversial measures targeting alcohol and welfare in 73 Aboriginal communities.

“The Intervention was uncalled for, unwarranted and caused great harm, and continues to cause issues as a result of it,” Snowdon says.

“Sadly, we weren’t in government and although I spoke up loudly, I was not able to achieve the outcome, which was to prevent the Intervention.

“It was a sad day for Australia, and a particularly sad day for Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. It took us backwards.”

That same year, Labor prime ministerial hopeful Kevin Rudd launched his Kevin ‘07 federal election campaign, resulting in what the media dubbed a “Ruddslide”. The incumbent Prime Minister John Howard was kicked out of the chair after a staggering 11 years at the top.

With the switch to Labor, Snowdon was sworn in as the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel. Several reshuffles saw him promoted to Minister for Indigenous Health, Rural and Regional Health and Regional Service Delivery and later gaining the Veterans’ Affairs portfolio.

Overseeing these portfolios was an “enormous privilege”, Snowdon says, adding that it gave him a new-found appreciation of the hardworking Australians who had sacrificed a great deal for the country.

“I just don’t think we recognise their work enough or the sacrifices they’ve made,” the 72-year-old says, citing the many current and former Australian Defence Force members he met during his time as Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Minister.

In Snowdon’s first speech after winning his Northern Territory seat, he was vocal about his strong desire to represent and advocate for the interests of First Australians as his most significant responsibility.

A lot has improved in those 32 years, but still not enough.

“The presence of Aboriginal people in the parliament made an extraordinary difference,” Snowdon says.

“But despite the best intentions of many, things haven’t changed significantly over the last 30 years.”

The Aboriginal population is growing rapidly and mortality rates are falling, but this has led to major under investment in infrastructure and housing that simply does not meet demand, according to Snowdon.

“We’ve got chronic overcrowding in communities,” he says.

“That leads to issues around chronic disease, such as rheumatic heart disease. These are things that are highly preventable and what we need to do is make sure they are prevented.

“The way to do that is to invest properly and work with communities and allow them to have decision-making power.”

Among other things, he also shared his disappointment and concern over the country’s “failure” to act on climate change.

Any political career spanning 32 years is bound to be sprinkled with controversies, and Snowdon’s was no exception.

While he vehemently denies he misused taxpayer funds to catch a RAAF jet from Townsville to judge the dog show in 1990, there can be no sidestepping around his headline-making trip to a New York strip club in 2007 with then-prime ministerial hopeful Kevin Rudd.

He made mistakes along the way. In a candid moment, Snowdon expressed he was “incredibly sorry” to anyone he may have hurt with those mistakes during his years in office.

‘You’re a representative of people’

During an emotional valedictory speech in federal parliament earlier this year, Snowdon described himself as feeling like “a bloody relic”.

His tenure, the 14th longest as a Member of Parliament, taught him the importance of “understanding who you are and how you feel”.

“You’re a representative of people,” Snowdon says.

“It’s your job to go and talk, look, listen and learn. Don’t assert that you know everything because you certainly don’t.

“Some people come into this place as if they’re God’s gift and think they should be Prime Minister the day they arrive. That’s simply not good enough.”

He said listening to people is the most important thing you can do.

Prior to 2001, Snowdon was the sole lower house member for the entire Northern Territory.

Since the Territory was granted a second seat, Snowdon opted to represent the seat of Lingiari. The seat, which he has held since its inception, covers more than 1.3m sq/km, equating to 99.99 per cent of the Territory as well as the Christmas and Cocos Islands.

It is unsurprisingly diverse, encompassing most of NT’s remote Aboriginal communities, the townships of Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine, as well as pastoral land as far as the eye can see.

With a federal election around the corner, Territorians living outside of Darwin will soon decide who they believe is best to take Lingiari forward – Snowdon’s Labor successor and former NT government minister Marion Scrymgour or Alice Springs’ former mayor of 13 years and Country Liberal Party candidate Damien Ryan.

The 72-year-old has a lot of things to reflect on as he prepares himself for life with a freed up schedule. He said he’s planning on keeping busy.

“I don’t just want to stop,” Snowdon says.

“I’m not just rolling over.

“I’ve got a motorbike, which I don’t ride very often but I’d like to. And when I had the opportunity, I used to enjoy going to the footy and the rugby, and getting involved in those activities. I’d like to do so again.”

For most of his 32 years in the job, Snowdon was only home eight nights a month. He said his work required a great deal of sacrifice from his wife, Elizabeth, to whom he is forever grateful.

A fortnight before his first election, his first child, Frankie, was born. Over the years, he had three more – Tom, Tessa and Jack – and poignantly notes he sometimes remained largely an “observer” in their upbringing.

As Snowdon prepares to call it a day in politics, life as we now know it is worlds away from 1987.

But immutable truths remain. As sure as the Oils’ Beds are Burning remains on rotation, Snowdon’s mo sits firmly in place.