Labor hangs on as minister quits

THE Northern Territory government was clinging to power last night after a renegade Aboriginal minister quit the Labor Party's "rotten machine".

THE Northern Territory government was clinging to power last night after a renegade Aboriginal minister quit the Labor Party's "rotten machine", while a fellow indigenous politician rejoined the government she had spurned.

In a day of dramatic upheavals and poisonous public attacks, Indigenous Policy Minister Alison Anderson resigned from cabinet, while former deputy chief minister Marion Scrymgour moved from the crossbenches back to the Labor fold.

Initially, Ms Anderson's resignation looked certain to be the end of the Labor government, but after welcoming Ms Scrymgour back to the government, Chief Minister Paul Henderson vowed to serve his full term.

"I still have 12 seats in the assembly ... I will continue as Chief Minister," he said.

Quitting Labor yesterday, Ms Anderson slammed the party as a "rotten machine" staffed by

fat-cat bureaucrats growing rich at the expense of dirt-poor Aborigines.

Her extraordinary attack gave voice to a discontent that has long existed among those familiar with successive NT governments' appalling record on Aboriginal governance.

Ms Anderson also attacked the political arm of the NT bureaucracy, calling it a "spin machine" whose staff were paid to gloss the image of a government that was badly neglecting its Aboriginal constituents.

"And it's staffed by a huge big bureaucracy that is just like a big machine that needs to be constantly fed.

"We will never close the gap if we've got this big machine sitting there with its mouth wide open, giving jobs to Labor mates and bringing in all these spin doctors. Let's get serious here."

Ms Anderson must now decide how to represent her electorate. She has the option of becoming an independent or joining the opposition Country Liberal Party.

The Australian understands it is most likely Ms Anderson will remain in parliament as an independent. However, there appears little prospect she will support the Henderson government on any issue, including on a notice of no confidence in the Chief Minister.

A motion of no confidence in Mr Henderson is likely to be brought immediately when parliament resumes next week. If Ms Anderson votes with the CLP, and if conservative-leaning independent Gerry Wood does the same, it could result in Opposition Leader Terry Mills securing minority government.

Another scenario is that the administrator of the NT steps in to call an election.

Mr Henderson held crisis talks with former deputy chief minister Ms Scrymgour shortly after yesterday's tumultuous cabinet meeting.

Ms Scrymgour emerged to confirm she would rejoin the government and said her return to Labor had always been a matter of "if, not when".

"I have always supported the Labor government," said Ms Scrymgour, who quit Labor in June in protest at its policy on Aboriginal outstations.

Ms Scrymgour had remained silent during the past two weeks as Ms Anderson raised objections to the NT government's handling of another Aboriginal project, the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program.

Ms Anderson threatened to resign two weeks ago over bureaucratic wastage under the $672 million SIHIP, accusing her own government of skimming off millions in "administration costs" that should have been spent on building houses.

The government immediately moved to appease Ms Anderson and her colleague Karl Hampton over the issue, telling them at the weekend it would claw back $23m in administration costs and spend it instead on housing construction and upgrades.

But Ms Anderson said despite the concession, she had lost faith in her government's commitment to addressing the issues affecting the indigenous community.