Arafura by-election: Labor’s Manuel Brown sworn in as new MLA in parliament
Manuel Brown was sworn in as the new Arafura MLA as parliament returned. Here’s how he aims to fill the ‘big shoes’ of his predecessor.
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Manuel Brown has been sworn in as the seventh Arafura MLA in Territory parliament.
The Tiwi Islands man, who is now based in Maningrida, signed his oaths ahead of the first March sittings.
Mr Brown was surrounded by members of his Arafura community, including the wife and daughter of his predecessor Lawrence Costa, for the swearing in ceremony on Tuesday morning.
The new member has said he has “big shoes to fill”.
“Costa was a great local member and with the advice he passed down to me I will ensure to live up to his level of service,” he said.
The swearing in ceremony marked a rare moment of good grace across the chamber, with opposition members rising to congratulate Mr Brown despite the landslide swing against them.
On Monday afternoon the NT Electoral Commission officially declared Mr Brown as the successful candidate in the by-election.
He had received a total of 1868 first preference votes, about 66 per cent of the total.
The CLP’s Leslie Tungatalum was on 818 votes and Alan Middleton from the Federation Party 112 votes.
Mr Brown said he was “overwhelmed” with the result.
“The support from the community, it showed with the numbers,” he said.
“The community mob can actually see that Labor are working for the bush.
“They obviously trust in Labor to see houses come up and roads get fixed.”
Mr Brown also paid tribute to the former Arafura MLA, the late Lawrence Costa, as Territory Labor declared the win.
“What I’ve learnt from him is listen to the people, go out to the people, and be patient,” he said.
“Give them true facts, don’t beat around the bush.”
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said it was a “disappointing” result for the Country Liberals however it did not impact the unity of their team.
“We knew we came into this as the underdog having only won the seat once before and wanting to respect the cultural importance surrounding appropriately honouring the former member for Arafura,” she said.
“The people of Arafura need better roads, more healthcare and renal facilities and they want jobs for their kids to be able to stay in their communities.
“The fact still remains that Labor has done little on these issues, so Manuel Brown is on notice.”
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the landslide win proved Territorians had “a complete lack of trust in the CLP”.
“The CLP are divisive, they’re not listening to Territorians and that was very clear in last night’s result,” she said.
“They trust Territory Labor, they trust us to deliver housing, to deliver roads and deliver jobs for their community.”
All early, mobile and returned postal votes were counted on Saturday.
Just 72 postal votes were to be returned to the NT Electoral Commission, while 268 declaration votes were yet to be added to the count.
Arafura by-election: Major party declares victory
Labor has declared victory in the Arafura by-election.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles declared victory on Saturday night, announcing on her Facebook page: “Congratulations to the Northern Territory’s new Member for Arafura, Manuel Brown: Labor for Arafura.”
At the close of counting on Saturday night, Mr Brown led with 1832 votes, the CLP’s Leslie Tungatalum was on 818 votes and Alan Middleton from the Federation Party 112 votes.
All early, mobile and returned postal votes have been counted.
Just 72 postal votes are to be returned to the NT Electoral Commission over the next 13 days, while 268 declaration votes are yet to be added to the count.
Mr Brown is currently sitting on 66 per cent of first preference votes.
“Extremely proud and humble to be elected as the next Member for Arafura,” the Maningrida-based man said on social media.
“Thank you to everyone for your support, I will be a strong voice for our communities.”
NT Electoral Commissioner Iain Loganathan will declare the result of the Arafura by-election at 3pm Monday following a fresh scrutiny of Saturday night’s count.
Mr Loganathan said while postal ballots were still coming in, about 58 per cent of Arafura electors had cast their vote.
The last time the seat went to the polls, the turnout was only 52.7 per cent.
“It could have been worse, it could have been a lot better,” Mr Loganathan said.
“If you look at the trend of by-elections in the Territory, in urban areas we tend to be getting a lower turnout but in remote areas, because there’s just more profile, the presence of the parties … that certainly seems to have an impact in terms of turnout.”
The result is set to leave Labor’s majority in parliament unchanged with 14 of 25 seats.
The government’s last sitting Arafura MLA, the late Lawrence Costa, retained the seat in the 2020 general election on a 7.3 per cent margin.
POLLING CLOSES FOR ARAFURA BY-ELECTION
Polling for the Arafura by-election has wrapped up in Jabiru.
Voting closed in the Kakadu town at 1pm on Saturday, after two weeks of pre-polling across 23 communities and homelands spanning the Top End electorate.
Electoral teams will now travel to Darwin to kick off the vote count at 6pm, where ballots will be tallied until midnight.
Preliminary results of the primary count are expected to be released on Sunday morning before a re-count starts on Monday.
Those on the ground in Jabiru said the race between the two major parties would likely be close.
The electorate of Arafura, which spans the Tiwi Islands, West Arnhem and Kakadu National Park, was won by Labor on a tight margin of 7.3 per cent in 2020.
That result was decided by just 52 per cent of voters, marking the lowest turnout of all Territory seats in the last general election.
While participation remains a concern in this by-election, Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison said she believed voter turnout had improved.
“It’s been really positive to see a huge community like Maningrida with a very large population, that usually has a very low turnout, have a booth open for a week,” she said while representing Labor’s candidate Manuel Brown in Jabiru on Saturday.
“That’s important – it gives more people an opportunity to participate and to have their voice heard.
“We’re all looking forward to a result, hopefully later on tonight, because we want to see a new member for Arafura sworn in and in the parliament on Tuesday.”
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro said she was hopeful voters had put their faith in the CLP candidate.
“Leslie Tungatalum has been really strong in ensuring that communities are in control of the issues in their areas,” she said.
“The CLP is certainly the underdog in today’s by-election but we have an incredible candidate who is well known and respected across this region.
“He has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience that he can bring to the parliament.”
One voter, Joseph Nayidji, said he hoped the by-election would bring renewed attention to issues including roads, housing and education.
He said it was a hard decision between the candidates.
“There’s a bucketload of issues here (in Jabiru),” he said.
“We vote for them, they need to give us something back, otherwise we’re voting for nothing.
“We need to see action.”
Another voter, who wanted to remain anonymous, said housing and roads were major issues for communities surrounding Jabiru.
“Our housing is definitely not to a standard that anyone else in Australia would think is suitable,” they said.
“I’d like to see new and upgraded housing to make sure that all our community members are safe.”
They also said the two major parties’ differing positions on the upcoming referendum was a key issue.
“The majority of people in Kakadu will vote yes (for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament),” they said.
“That really concerns me that we’ve got half of our (parliament) that is not even considering that vote.”
Leslie Tungatalum, the CLP candidate aiming to take the Top End seat from Labor’s hold, was at the Jabiru community hall as polling booths opened on Friday.
Mr Tungatalum said the electorate was ready for a change.
“It’s about looking after our people, about looking after the access of the roads and health,” he said.
“If I get in it’s about making a change and (seeing) improvement for our people, for every one.”
Mr Tungatalum also pointed to the need for investment in town camps and education.
Labor candidate Manuel Brown has been in other communities, including Maningrida, for the final days of polling.
He was represented by no less than four Labor members in Jabiru on Friday, including Arnhem MLA Selena Uibo, who’s electorate once covered the Kakadu town.
Ms Uibo said her party had heard calls from people across the Top End seat for investment in housing.
“A big part of work in the homelands and our remote communities is housing and as the Housing and Homelands Minister it’s really important that people do see that investment in their communities, whether they’re in a large community like Maningrida or Wurrumiyanga on the Tiwi Islands, or our small homelands,” she said.
“Fighting for more money from the federal government for homelands has been a key issue.”
With more than 57,000sq km spanning the Top End electorate, voter participation has been top of mind for both major political parties.
By Thursday evening, 50.25 per cent of electors across the seat had cast their vote.
Those on the ground said turnout in the final polling days at Jabiru had been slow, however attendance at pre-polling booths in the Tiwi Islands and Maningrida was better.
More than 140 postal votes have been issued, with only 19 returned by Friday morning.
The deadline for residents to return postal votes is midday March 31.
A result is expected to be declared before April 3.
The by-election comes after the sudden death of Labor MLA Lawrence Costa in December.
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Originally published as Arafura by-election: Labor’s Manuel Brown sworn in as new MLA in parliament
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