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Northern Territory election: Labor on track to retain government with at least 12 seats Northern Territory election: Labor claims victory but majority hangs in the balance
(about 13 hours later)
Michael Gunner’s government projected to win at least 12 seats but 13 are needed for majority government Michael Gunner’s government projected to win at least 12 seats, but 13 are needed for majority government
Top End voters have marked down Labor, but counting still favoured the incumbent Northern Territory party forming at least a minority government late on Saturday night. Labor has survived the first major political test of the Covid-19 pandemic by retaining government at the Northern Territory election.
The election was the first test of an Australian political leader’s coronavirus management. Counting of votes was set to continue on Sunday, but Michael Gunner told supporters in a late-night speech he would lead a Labor government.
About three hours after polls closed on Saturday, Labor appeared on track to win at least 12 seats but 13 are needed to retain majority government. “Labor is in front on the votes, Labor is in front on the seats and tonight I can tell you I am very confident Labor will form the next government of the Northern Territory,” he said.
Labor was in a much better position than the Country Liberal party to form government, with the opposition heading towards no more than nine seats in the 25-seat assembly. He paid tribute to health workers, police and other frontline staff who had helped the NT get through the pandemic with only 33 cases of Covid-19 and no deaths, making it “one of the safest places in the world”.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan said it appeared the Country Liberal party could lift its numbers from a very low base of two to seven, with the possibility of nine seats. “2020 – bloody hell,” he said.
“That would be a remarkable outcome,” he told Sky News. “It’s not over yet. But for me, for our team, the most important battle of 2020 is not a contest between political parties.
The biggest casualty of the night looked set to be former chief minister Terry Mills, who formed the Territory Alliance party late last year to shake up the political system. His seat of Blain was on track to fall to the Country Liberal party. “It is a bigger fight, a fight that affects all of us, that requires all our effort to keep protecting Territorians through this crisis, the fight to keep our communities safe, to keep our small businesses open, to keep our people in work, the fight to save lives and save jobs.”
“Those numbers are fluid still and I will let that play out,” he told ABC TV. Darwin’s Waratah Football Club was a sea of Labor red shirts on Saturday night. Supporters chanted “four more years” after it became clear the party had staved off the Country Liberal party and newcomers, Territory Alliance.
The Territory Alliance could still pick up two seats in the new assembly, sitting alongside two independents. On Saturday night, Labor secured 38.9% of the primary vote to the Country Liberal party’s 31.8%.
The Labor leader, Michael Gunner, had faced both criticism and praise for his tough stance on border closures, but said he had done it in the name of saving the territory’s economy and protecting Territorians’ health. He comfortably retained his inner-Darwin seat of Fannie Bay. Gunner’s team was on track to take at least 12 seats in the 25-seat assembly, despite a 3.3% swing against it. But Labor scrutineers expected the 13th seat to be secured, delivering a majority.
Territorians were unlikely to see a final result on Saturday due to social distancing requirements at counting centres, with a majority of votes cast early. Despite strict rules on social distancing being the norm across the country, Gunner hugged and shook hands with supporters in Darwin.
Only about 20% of voters were expected to have cast their ballots on election day itself. The Country Liberal party leader, Lia Finocchiaro, stepped up to the podium in a positive mood, having lifted her party’s stocks from well above the two seats it took into the election.
“No deals. Stability and certainty, no deals,” Gunner told reporters when asked of his willingness to form a minority government on Saturday morning. “Particularly during a public health emergency.” It could pick up as many as nine seats, but appeared on track to clinch seven.
Labor campaigned on its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which saw the NT suffer just 33 cases, telling voters it was the party to see them through the crisis. The 35-year-old lawyer said she had started a “new generation” for the CLP. “There are still a lot of votes to count, but if there is one thing I know it is that the CLP is back.”
“We are asking them to choose between secure borders or open borders,” Gunner said. The Territory Alliance formed by former chief minister Terry Mills was struck a blow, with the party leader on track to lose his seat of Blain ending two decades in politics.
However, the Gunner government had been criticised for its handling of the economy – rated as the nation’s worst performer by CommSec for the June quarter. However Mills was not formally conceding on Saturday night and remained positive that the NT needed an alternative to the major parties. Territory Alliance could win at least one seat.
The CLP leader, Lia Finocchiaro, had repeatedly pointed to the NT’s skyrocketing debt during the campaign, saying 11,000 jobs had been lost on Labor’s watch. Labor leader Gunner has faced both criticism and praise for his tough stance on Covid-19 border closures. He comfortably retained his inner-Darwin seat.
“We want the territory to be a can-do place that it used to be,” she said. “This government has squandered that opportunity to make people’s lives better.” The victory comes eight months after Gunner suffered a heart attack while at home with wife, ABC journalist Kristy O’Brien. “It came from nowhere, there were no warning signs,” he wrote on Facebook in January. He was rushed to a hospital and later underwent surgery.
Finocchiaro had promised to fast-track major projects and simplify mining taxes to “signal to the world the territory is open for business”. Three months later, the chief minister returned to hospital for better news – the birth of his son Hudson Gunner over the Easter long weekend in April.
Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy said voters had elected to “stay the course” with her party. A formal declaration of the poll is not scheduled until 7 September, three days after postal votes close.
About 200 Labor supporters, many dressed in the party’s bright red, gathered at the Waratah Football Club in Darwin on Saturday night, where the mood was ecstatic. In a sign of the impact of Covid-19 fears, only about 2%of voters cast their ballots on election day itself.
“I knew we would win. Michael’s leadership has been fabulous during the crisis,” Labor supporter Rajeev Thayil said. “He has sailed through it all.”
The likely victory comes eight months after Gunner suffered a heart attack while at home with wife, ABC journalist Kristy O’Brien.
“It came from nowhere, there were no warning signs,” he wrote on Facebook in January.
He was rushed to a hospital and later underwent surgery.