Cunningham: No matter who is elected, the NT can expect many more visits from the PM
While Anthony Albanese’s choice to visit a remote cattle station on his most recent NT jaunt raised some questions, there is no doubt he’s shown more genuine interest in the Territory than some his predecessors, writes Matt Cunningham.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Anthony Albanese this week made his 12th trip to the Northern Territory since becoming Prime Minister.
His choice of the Lake Nash cattle station as the location of his visit prompted a few questions – why not Alice Springs, Katherine or Tennant Creek?
But only the most partisan observer could doubt the PM has shown a genuine interest in the NT.
He’s certainly shown more genuine interest than some of his predecessors.
Scott Morrison made a quick dash to Kakadu ahead of the 2019 election so he could beat Bill Shorten there by a day.
And Malcolm Turnbull looked about as comfortable as a pair of sweaty jocks in the Wet season when he stopped into Lizards for a beer during the 2016 campaign.
Two years later, this newspaper described him as a man who “simply does not care” when he brushed off a question about the rape of a two-year-old girl in Tennant Creek.
He was guilted into a visit, but before the year was done he’d been replaced, and the Barkly is still waiting for much of what was promised during his trip.
While Albanese’s genuine interest in the NT shouldn’t be questioned – he even made it to Alice Springs in January 2023 and forced the NT Government to overturn one of the dumbest decisions in this jurisdiction’s political history – his recent blitz might best be explained by the tightening race around the Territory’s two lower house seats in the federal parliament.
For the first time in a long time, Lingiari and Solomon are both genuinely at play in the upcoming federal election.
Solomon takes in the greater Darwin area and his held by Labor’s Luke Gosling.
On paper it looks like a near-certain Labor hold.
The hardworking Gosling smashed it out of the park against the CLP’s Tina McFarlane in 2022, increasing his margin to 9.4 per cent.
But there have been two significant events since then that will have a major bearing on the 2025 poll.
The first was the failed Voice referendum.
When Albanese promised on election night to deliver the Uluru Statement in full, he had hoped the Voice would pass with bipartisan support.
Instead it has become something of a new political fault line of which Labor finds itself on the wrong side.
Almost 64 per cent of voters in Solomon voted No at the Voice referendum.
Those results were almost mirrored at the 2024 Northern Territory election, where the Country Liberal Party won in a landslide as Labor lost every seat it held in Darwin and Palmerston.
The NT election is the other event that will be keeping federal Labor strategists awake at night.
There’s a theory that state and territory issues don’t impact federal elections.
Try telling that to Natasha Griggs.
Griggs won Solomon for the CLP in 2010 when it was one of the country’s most marginal seats, and held it again in 2013.
But she was smashed by Gosling and Labor in July 2016 when the community’s frustration with the performance of the NT CLP Government had reached its peak.
Could the same thing that saw Gosling rise to power in 2016 see him denied a fourth term in 2025?
The one thing he has going for him is that, unlike in 2016, Territorians have already had an opportunity to vote out a bad NT Government.
But the fact the few members of the former NT Labor administration still left in parliament continue to advocate the policies that saw their government annihilated will be doing nothing to help Gosling’s chances.
If the swing is on in Solomon, it should follow that Labor will struggle to hold Lingiari, where incumbent Marion Scrymgour’s margin is less than one per cent.
But one of the factors working against Gosling in Solomon could work in Scrymgour’s favour. The Voice referendum saw record number of Aboriginal people in remote areas enrolled to vote.
Those who turned out in remote areas voted Yes at the referendum and will likely vote Labor at the federal election.
This might be off-set somewhat by voters in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine concerned about crime, however Scrymgour’s tough talking on law-and-order and personal responsibility could mean the baseball bats delivered to NT Labor won’t be coming her way.
Whatever the results, it’s now clear Solomon and Lingiari are seats neither party can take for granted.
That’s a good thing for the NT. We can expect to see more visits from the Prime Minister over the next three years, regardless of who is in power.
CLARIFICATION
Last week’s column on royalties quoted the excellent piece written in 2022 by Dominic McCormack, who was described as a “former Darwin lawyer”. I can assure readers McCormack is very much in the present in Darwin and can be found at www.mccormacklegal.com.au. Sorry Dom.
Originally published as Cunningham: No matter who is elected, the NT can expect many more visits from the PM
REPLAY: Districts stun Waratah in chaotic last term comeback
Southern Districts trailed for much of the match, but snatched victory late against a skilful Waratah on the back of a tremendous second half surge. Watch the full match REPLAY.
Sweating it out: Territorians may have to wait even longer before monsoon
As Territorians sweat it out for yet another week, the Bureau of Meteorology forecasts the wait for the monsoon could be even longer than previously reported. Read why.