‘Lies’ and ‘muck raking’ ahead of Northern Territory election

Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler has accused the ­opposition of ‘lying’ about election costings ahead of Saturday’s NT poll.

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin.

Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler has accused the ­opposition of “lying” about election costings as Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in Canberra failed in an attempt to suspend standing orders to propose a ­motion to investigate the involvement of the Northern Land Council in Saturday’s NT election.

The Australian revealed on Monday that Matthew Ryan, the Labor-linked chair of the Aboriginal land council, denied he was out to “shut down” Indigenous Country Liberal Party candidate Yanja Thompson’s election campaign, despite bombshell documents alleging his daughter was seeking dirt on the candidate and doing so on his behalf.

Documents from an internal workplace investigation claim Northern Land Council chairman Mr Ryan’s adult daughter sought out video footage of Ms Thompson, the CLP candidate for Arafura, “acting recklessly during her party times”.

On Thursday in the Senate, Senator Nampijinpa Price called on Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy to take the claims seriously and accused Labor of not having regard for the most vulnerable people in the NT.

“The Northern Land Council is a statutory authority brought into existence to serve their members, who need someone to represent their interests. It’s unacceptable that a body such as the Land Council would have even a remote part to play in undermining one of our most vital democratic processes like the Territory election,” Senator Nampijinpa Price said.

“And it’s ironic, really, it’s just unbelievable because for all their talk about championing Aboriginal people, this Labor government is consistently demonstrating they actually have no regard for the most vulnerable people in communities,” Senator Nampi­jinpa Price said.

The vote failed to secure adequate support, with 28 voting for Senator Nampi­jinpa Price’s motion and 32 voting against.

In Darwin on Thursday, Ms Lawler cast an early ballot, while taking aim at the economic policies of the Country Liberal Party.

Ms Lawler is the third Labor chief minister this term after Michael Gunner stepped down in 2022 to spend more time with his family and Natasha Fyles was forced to resign last year over undisclosed shares.

She faces a tough fight on Saturday to take Labor to a third term after controversy over her party’s handling of crime and education.

“I’ve been very clear that one of my key goals for a future term of government is to see all Territorians working, but Treasury and ­Finance have put out their costings for the election today and what we’ve seen is we’ve seen that (Opposition Leader) Lia (Finocchiaro) and the CLP have lied to Territorians,” Ms Lawler said.

The Chief Minister said that under a CLP government there would be 400 job losses in the ­public service with cuts of $185m, while Ms ­ Finocchiaro hit back, claiming Labor were in their “desperate days to try and swing voters”.

“Treasury have determined that all of our costings and a budget under a CLP government will deliver a surplus in the 25-26 ­financial year,” Ms Finocchiaro said.

“Over eight long years and two decades of Labor they haven’t realised the opportunities that Territorians deserve,” she said.

“They haven’t been able to deliver a strong and growing economy or a population that’s growing, and that’s why the CLP is so focused on making sure we make the Territory an exciting place to live, work and invest.

“We’ve been really clear we need a strong public service to deliver our reform agenda, and that is why public service jobs are safe.”