Labor’s Michael Gunner is battling to hold on to majority government
Labor’s Michael Gunner is battling to hold on to majority government as the opposition make gains.
Labor’s Michael Gunner is battling to hold on to majority government in the Northern Territory where the opposition Country Liberal Party is on track to gain several seats, prompting young leader Lia Finocchiaro to declare a comeback with a new generation.
Addressing supporters at a function in the Top End capital, Mr Gunner said there was still “a long way to go” in some contests and flagged issues with the distribution of preferences. “Labor is in front on the votes. Labor is in front on the seats,” he said.
“Tonight, I can tell you that I am very confident Labor will form the next government of the Northern Territory.”
Election analysts are confident Labor has won at least 11 or 12 seats in the 25-seat unicameral Legislative Assembly. But it will need victories in one or more of a handful of close contests to achieve a majority.
With 60 per cent of the enrolment tallied, the Country Liberals looked to have scored a minimum of seats and were leading the counting in four more.
In a speech to her supporters, CLP leader Lia Finocchiaro did not concede defeat.
“There is still a lot of voters to count, but if there’s one thing I know, it is that the CLP is back,” she said.
Labor pursued a controversial strategy of campaigning almost solely on its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The Territory has not seen community spread of COVID-19.
The results on Saturday night suggest voters opted for certainty in a time of crisis.
The big loser from the ballot was Territory Alliance, a new party that began with more seats than the CLP but campaigned poorly and flip-flopped on important policies.
Territory Alliance was late on Saturday still ahead in one seat and a trailing contender in one more. It could end up with no seats once all the counts are done.
Pundits who wrote off Labor as recently as February, when it suffered big negative swings at a by-election, conceded the coronavirus campaign might have worked.
But it has also left Labor badly exposed on its record. Ms Finocchiaro emerged during the campaign as a highly effective critic of Labor’s management of issues like crime and the economy. However, she only assumed the leadership in February, after what many saw as a lacklustre term of weak opposition.
Some CLP insiders forecast ahead of the ballot that their party would easily win at least eight seats. By that measure, Saturday night’s result was a poor showing.
Mr Gunner acknowledged his government was “not perfect”.
“We have made mistakes. We have learned lessons,” he said.
“This has been a hard fight in a tough year.”
Country Liberals declare a comeback
Country Liberals leader Lia Finocchiaro has declared the comeback of her once shattered party following a strong showing at the Northern Territory election.
The conservative force in Top End politics, which ruled the Territory uninterrupted from the beginning of self-government in 1978 until 2001, retook power in 2012 but was reduced to a rump of two seats four years later amid scandals and infighting.
With just over half the votes counted in Saturday’s ballot, the CLP looked on track to take at least six seats in the 25-seat unicameral Legislative Assembly and perhaps as many as nine seats once the final results are finalised.
Labor was predicted to retain government but had not yet achieved a majority outright.
Addressing her supporters at a function in Darwin Ms Finocchairo, who only took over the CLP leadership this year, did not concede defeat.
“Just like Paul Everingham and his team in 1978, I want to start a new generation of the CLP, and we’ve done that tonight,” she said.
“There is still a lot of voters to count, but if there’s one thing I know, it is that the CLP is back.”
She said the CLP opposition had “worked tirelessly to hold a bad Labor government to account” and would go forward with a more substantial hand.
“As a party, we have rebuilt, and we have strengthened our resolve,” she said.
“The Territory needs us; it needs the Territory party; it needs the Country Liberal Party to be that strong, conservative voice.”
She said the Country Liberals had “heard” Territorians unhappy with the status quo.
“We heard you when you said you wanted to live in safe communities; you want to be safe in your businesses; you want to be safe in your homes.”
“We heard you said you were worried about your job, your job security, you’re worried about our economy.”
“We recognise that it is critical going forward that we have that growth, that we back the private sector, that we bring back that can-do spirit, and that is what we delivered in this election campaign.”
Ms Finocchiaro thanked her candidates individually, her supporters, staff and relatives including her husband, Sam Burke, the son of former CLP chief minister Dennis Burke.
Pandemic to blame for poor results: Mills
Territory Alliance leader Terry Mills has blamed the coronavirus pandemic for his fledgling party’s disappointing result at the Northern Territory election.
With more than half the votes counted in his Greater Darwin seat of Blain, Mr Mills trailed both the Labor and Country Liberal candidates but declined to concede defeat.
The former CLP chief minister, who took government in a landslide in 2012 only to be knifed by his colleagues seven months later, left parliament entirely, then returned as an independent before forming Territory Alliance late last year.
Mr Mills had predicted his new political vehicle could win government outright. But the counts so far suggest he and another TA incumbent, Jeff Collins, will be out of the parliament. A third member, Robyn Lambley, is fighting for her seat. Territory Alliance may make one gain, in the seat of Katherine.
“I still feel proud. I feel satisfied. I feel calm. I feel that we have given birth to something,” Mr Mills told his supporters.
“I was drawn into this by you. I responded to a call that I could hear that there needed to be a fresh approach.”
“I was asked … what went wrong. This party is less than 12-months old. We had the Johnston by-election, and we almost won that from a standing start. But what happened, the pandemic occurred immediately after that, and it changed everything.
“A fledgling party couldn’t campaign. We couldn’t gain the critical mass the others already had. The public conversation changed.”
Mr Mills urged those who backed him not to give up.
“We will have a nucleus in that parliament upon which we can grow this, either in our own right or to bear a positive impact on the political process,” he said.
“I feel for every one of you tonight, particularly our candidates that are here tonight, that you really had this expectation that it would turn out different.”
“You will inspire others and maintain your courage.”
“Many of our great political leaders didn’t walk straight into office; they were tested by fire … I urge you to continue on — from little things, big things grow.
With over 40 per cent of votes across all seats so far tallied, Labor looked on track to form the next government but was still searching for an outright majority.
Health Minister Natasha Fyles won her seat of Nightcliff but expected “a couple more hours of counting before we’ll have a clear outcome” overall.
She pointedly declined to back Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s leadership under circumstances where Labor could not govern outright.
“As a team, we’ve shown over the last four years that we can work together,” she said.
High profile former pastoral industry lobbyist Tracey Hayes, the CLP candidate against Mr Gunner in his seat of Fannie Bay, conceded defeat but praised her party’s gains.
“I’m accepting the electorate’s decision this evening,” Ms Hayes told Sky News.
“But overall, one of the objectives I brought into this election was to assist in rebuilding the conservative brand of politics.”
“When the result becomes clear, we will have a strong and robust opposition.
Ms Hayes was frustrated that Territory Alliance had split the conservative vote.
“The apparent wrecking ball that has been Territory Alliance throughout this campaign will be incredibly frustrating should it deliver Labor government,” she said.
Nationals president Larry Anthony was pleased by the “strong surge” back to the CLP.
“They’ve come back from the brink … many people had written this party off,” he told the ABC.
“I’m hoping that no matter what happens, conservative anti-Labor forces can come back together.”
Former Labor leader Delia Lawrie, who supported Territory Alliance during the 2020 campaign, said leader Terry Mills had worked hard and the result was a blow for him.
“What a difficult night for Terry Mills,” she said.
“To think that Territory Alliance is going to disappear off the landscape … is to underestimate the people that I’ve come to know.”
The CLP looks to have won at least four seats and independents at least two seats.
Labor is forecast to win 13 seats with six seats still in doubt. But with booth results highly variable across the Territory’s diverse and sometimes sprawling electorates, there is still scope for many predictions to change.
Early results look promising for Labor
Early results in the Northern Territory election are looking promising for Labor, with some losses forecast but little sign of the sorts of massive swings that would be required to install a different majority government.
But the Country Liberals also appear to be having a good night, with gains predicted in Red Centre, rural and even some remote areas.
The big loser looks to be Territory Alliance. The newcomer party is behind in two of three seats it presently holds. Leader Terry Mills is currently running third in Blain.
The big question will be if Labor can win enough seats to retain its majority or whether Territorians will be left with a hung parliament in the middle of a deadly pandemic.
Independent Yingiya Guyula is ahead of Labor’s candidate in the Arnhem Land seat of Mulka. Labor fought hard to beat Guyula but might need his support for a majority.
The Country Liberals look likely to take the central Darwin seat of Port Darwin from Labor, unseating Resources Minister Paul Kirby.
They are also doing well in Barkly, where Tennant Creek Mayor Steve Edgington leads Labor’s Sid Vashist, a councillor and acolyte of the retiring Labor MLA.
But Labor incumbents are ahead in the Palmerston seats of Brennan and Drysdale, tipped by party insiders as crucial to re-forming a majority government. But those results could change as more votes come in.
Labor also looks like keeping Braitling, an Alice Springs seat lost by the Country Liberals at the last ballot in a shock result that saw then chief minister Adam Giles turfed out of parliament.
Territory Alliance’s candidate is leading in the former CLP heartland seat of Katherine where many locals oppose fracking.
Territory Alliance controversially opposed fracking during the campaign, a populist stance that many pundits believe undermined its credibility.
Polls close as Labor battles to retain power
The polls have closed in the Northern Territory where Labor is battling to retain power at an election fought significantly on its handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Territorians have been spared community spread of deadly COVID-19, and Chief Minister Michael Gunner has sought to capitalise on that in his pitch as a “safe pair of hands”, while his opponents have striven to make the election about the economy, crime and other bread-and-butter issues.
Labor went into Saturday’s ballot with 16 of 25 seats in the unicameral Legislative Assembly. It needs at least 13 seats to hold a majority.
The main opposition party, the Country Liberals, held two seats throughout the last term but contests this election with just a single incumbent after former leader Gary Higgins announced his retirement earlier this year.
CLP leader Lia Finocchiaro has attacked Labor for being afraid to campaign on its record.
Newcomer Territory Alliance had three incumbents when the election began (and briefly held opposition status) but has an unproven electoral track record.
Pundits see Labor as the favourite to win the most seats. But opinion has been divided on whether it can cross that crucial threshold of 13 to govern in its own right.
Visiting a polling booth in his Darwin electorate of Fannie Bay, Chief Minister Michael Gunner reiterated a pledge made earlier in the campaign in an interview with The Australian that he would not do “deals” to cling to power.
“I’m planning to win and working as if I’m losing,” Mr Gunner told News Corp on Saturday.
“We’ll know what happens tomorrow, Monday or Tuesday. You know it could be a close contest. But for me it’s very clear: in the middle of public health emergency Territorians absolutely need certainty.”
Record numbers of Territorians voted early at this ballot, with more than half of enrollees having been to the polls by the time general voting began on Saturday.
The Northern Territory Electoral Commission has warned about record low turnout at mobile polling in the bush.
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