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Northern Territory election: Labor claims victory but majority hangs in the balance Northern Territory election: Labor claims victory but majority hangs in the balance
(about 7 hours later)
Michael Gunner’s government projected to win at least 12 seats, but 13 are needed for majority government NT will have to wait at least another day to find out if Michael Gunner’s team has polled enough votes to form a majority government
Labor has survived the first major political test of the Covid-19 pandemic by retaining government at the Northern Territory election. Michael Gunner’s Labor team is expected to retain government in the Northern Territory, where counting continues in a knife-edge election.
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. The Northern Territory will have to wait at least another day to find out if incumbent Labor has polled enough votes to form a 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. Vote counting resumed on Sunday morning in the knife-edge election, which is the first major political test of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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”. Hours earlier, chief minister Michael Gunner told supporters he would lead a Labor government following Saturday’s election.
“2020 – bloody hell,” he said. “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,” he said in a late-night speech on Saturday.
“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 battle is coming down to a handful of key seats including Arnhem, Barkly, Brennan, Braitling, Daly, Katherine and Namatjira.
“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.” Labor was ahead on primary votes in Arnhem and Katherine on Sunday but the two-party preferred count has to be checked after the wrong candidates’ names were used.
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 party was also ahead of the Country Liberal Party in Barkly by 102 two-party preferred when vote counting ended for the day.
On Saturday night, Labor secured 38.9% of the primary vote to the Country Liberal party’s 31.8%. The race is tighter in Daly and Namatjira, where the CLP led Labor by seven and 25 votes respectively on a two-party preferred basis.
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. It was also neck-and-neck in Brennan and Braitling, where the CLP has also edged ahead of Labor by 48 and 105 votes respectively on a two-party preferred basis.
Despite strict rules on social distancing being the norm across the country, Gunner hugged and shook hands with supporters in Darwin. In the Alice Springs seat of Araluen, Territory Alliance candidate Robyn Lambley leads the CLP’s Damien Ryan by just 26 votes.
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. About 4000 postal votes were counted on Sunday, providing further insight into the seat of the Port of Darwin, where Labor is ahead of the CLP by 211 votes on a two-party preferred basis.
It could pick up as many as nine seats, but appeared on track to clinch seven. On Saturday night, Labor secured 38.9% of the primary vote to the CLP’s 31.8%.
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.” Gunner’s team was on track to take at least 12 seats in the 25-seat assembly but on Sunday, two seats swung back to the CLP.
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. Despite this, Labor scrutineers expect 13 seats will be secured, delivering a majority. Labor won 18 seats in the 2016 poll.
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. Gunner hugged and shook hands with supporters in Darwin as he arrived to address the party faithful and media, despite strict rules on social distancing being the norm across the country.
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. 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.
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. “2020 - bloody hell,” he said.
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. “It’s not over yet.”
Earlier in the evening, CLP leader Lia Finocchiaro stepped up to the podium in a positive mood, having lifted her party’s stocks from the two seats it took into the election.
It could pick up as many as nine seats but currently appears on track to clinch seven or eight.
The 35-year-old lawyer, who has not conceded defeat, 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.”
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, Mills did not concede on Saturday night and remained positive the NT needed an alternative to the major parties.
A formal declaration of the poll is not scheduled until 7 September, three days after postal votes close.A formal declaration of the poll is not scheduled until 7 September, three days after postal votes close.
In a sign of the impact of Covid-19 fears, only about 2%of voters cast their ballots on election day itself. Counting continues on Monday, with recounts of the two-party preferred ballots for Arnhem, Blain, Fong Lim, Johnston and Katherine.