Labor is in trouble in the Northern Territory and in danger of losing at least one seat – Darwin-based Solomon – at the election.
But, after Anthony Albanese’s 13th visit to the Top End – more he says than any other prime minister – it’s beginning to look like it’s in even worse shape and in danger of losing the central Australian seat of Lingiari as well.
Coming after Newspoll showed federal Labor in big trouble in Western Australia, the Prime Minister was confronted on Alice Springs ABC radio with the brutal reality that in northern Australia he was “on the nose” and would lose the election if both Solomon and Lingiari were flipped.
Albanese chose to go to Alice Springs on Friday after missing parliament on Thursday to visit flood-affected Townsville. He announced a six-year $843m investment for remote Indigenous communities, warning that federal government would “intervene” if an audit found the funds were not getting through, and backed moves to restrict welfare benefits.
His previous flying visit to Alice Springs during an outbreak of violence and riots in the streets did not go well. Coming a week after Peter Dutton visited the Alice with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and the Coalition promised to audit Indigenous funding to stop waste, this visit was always going to be a challenge.
That Albanese faced his most aggressive interview on the ABC in Alice over failed promises, violence in the streets, grog bans, being “on the nose”, wanting to be “the underdog” and low Indigenous voting levels was evidence the perception of Labor in trouble in the NT was a reality.
Albanese angrily reacted to the suggestion he was seeking underdog status or was on the nose, claimed the ABC was verballing him and declared: “I’m confident that we will form a majority government after the next election.”
Not once did Albanese mention the failure of the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum in his interview.
With a majority of just two seats going into the election, the chance of losing two NT seats, as the ABC suggested, only strengthens the conviction that Labor is headed to minority government.
While Solomon has been considered at risk for some time, the redoubtable Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour has been thought to be safer. The danger for Albanese and his MPs is that a prime ministerial visit may not help their chances.
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