NT Labor scrambles as Michael Gunner goes

Northern Territory Labor will stage a leadership contest a week out from the federal election after Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced his surprise resignation.

Michael Gunner with wife Kristy, newborn Nash and Hudson, 2, after announcing his resignation as NT chief minister. Picture:(A)manda Parkinson

Northern Territory Labor will stage a leadership contest a week out from the federal election after Chief Minister Michael Gunner announced his surprise resignation immediately upon handing down the Top End jurisdiction’s 2022-23 budget.

Mr Gunner, who has been on paternity leave, said he knew it was time to go the moment he took hold of his second son. “It’s no secret that the last few years have been intense. It’s taken a lot out of me like it has plenty of us. Add to that a heart attack and a couple of kids, and it has caused me to reflect a lot over the past few weeks while preparing this budget,” he said.

“I can no longer look Territorians in the eye and say I can keep giving a hundred per cent every day … and when I held Nash for the first time, that was it. Game over — I knew straight away that I was done. I’m not going to stay in the job longer than I need to just for the cheque or the ego. Forty-six is pretty young for a polly, but it’s pretty old for a father of a newborn and a toddler.”

Mr Gunner “absolutely rule(d) out the possibility his resignation was linked to allegations being investigated by the NT’s anti-corruption watchdog. He promised to remain in his Darwin seat of Fannie Bay and to support Labor’s next leader.

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro said Territorians would be “confused” by Mr Gunner’s decision to quit during a budget speech. “This has been a long time coming, and the reality is Chief Minister Michael Gunner should have quit a long time ago,” she said.

“I think Michael Gunner saw the writing on the wall, and he’s chosen today to make his exit under cover of his family, and we certainly wish him well into the future.”

She said the leadership change would distract the government. Mr Gunner’s resignation was expected by close associates but came sooner than some in Labor anticipated.

Labor’s fourteen-member caucus will meet on Friday to try and reach a consensus about who should take the top job. If that fails, the party will have to begin a lengthy selection process involving a ballot of members.

Insiders predicted Acting Chief Minister and deputy leader Nicole Manison would likely put her hand up for the role and could count on at least six votes from the right faction.

Health Minister Natasha Fyles and backbencher Joel Bowden were being touted as possible candidates associated with the slightly larger but less united left faction.

One plausible outcome was Ms Manison becoming leader and one or more left faction members receiving a promotion to fill cabinet roles vacated by Mr Gunner’s decision.

There has been speculation Mr Gunner’s abrupt announcement could be connected to pressure to retain Labor’s two federal NT seats, Solomon and Lingiari. Labor sources denied he was under pressure to go, adding that while they expected his resignation to be “neutral to slightly positive” federally, it was not a major factor in the campaign.

Labor appears relatively confident of retaining the Darwin seat of Solomon, where sitting MP Luke Gosling is now established, and the electorate tends to swing with the national mood.

It is more concerned about the vast bush seat of Lingiari, from which the long-serving member Warren Snowdon is stepping down. Lingiari has a large outer-suburban and regional constituency that leans conservative, and the Aboriginal turnout may be low.

Territory voters have been especially concerned about high crime rates. Some were angered by Mr Gunner’s vaccination rules introduced at the height of the pandemic. People who refused to be vaccinated were, in some cases, forced to lose their jobs.