The outcome of the election in Lingiari, a bush seat, remains on a knife edge as Labor tries to fend off a concerted effort by the country’s Liberals to reclaim the Northern Territory’s vast electorate for the first time.
Key points:
- The seat has been held by Labor stalwart Warren Snowdon for the past two decades.
- Labour’s projected margin is significantly lower than in previous elections
- A result may not be known for days.
The traditionally secure Labor seat was held by veteran MP Warren Snowdon for the past two decades, but his decision to step down before the election gave the country’s Liberals an opportunity to seize it.
When the count ended on Saturday night, Labor candidate Marion Scrymgour was a fraction ahead, with a projected two-candidate preference vote of 50.9 percent.
His CLP rival Damien Ryan was forecast to get 49.1 per cent of the count.
Scrymgour’s minimum margin is significantly lower than Snowdon’s result in 2019, when he won the seat by a 5.5 per cent margin.
“It’s still very close and we will continue to count,” Ms Scrymgour told supporters in Alice Springs.
Ms. Scrymgour suggested that the result may not be known until next week.
In a speech to the CLP faithful at the Red Centre, Damien Ryan also acknowledged the narrow margin.
“At this stage, we don’t know where Lingiari stands,” he said.
“We have put up a very big fight,” he said.
Lingiari covers 99.99 per cent of the Northern Territory, including the regional centers of Alice Springs, Katherine and parts of Palmerston, as well as dozens of remote Aboriginal communities.
Snowdon’s 21-year dominance of the seat was largely based on his strong performance in remote areas, where he attracted 76 per cent of the vote, compared to around 44 per cent in more populous centres.
Ms Scrymgour suggested that residents of remote communities had taken Labour’s side again.
“When we look at the other side of the brush, that becomes strong for us,” he said.
However, Ryan said that the CLP had won the account in the remote community of Gunbalanya.
Ms Scrymgour, who has cultural links to the Tiwi Islands and Central Australia, was the first indigenous woman to be elected to the NT parliament.
She later became Deputy Chief Minister, at the time making her the highest-ranking indigenous woman in government in Australian history.
Until her shortlist, she was executive director of the Northern Land Council, which represents traditional landlords in the Top End.
Lingiari a focus for the main parties during the campaign
Mr. Ryan is a former Mayor of Alice Springs and a long-time President of the Northern Territory Local Government Association.
He previously ran for the CLP in the 2020 NT elections, but failed to win the Araluen seat.
The battle for Lingiari saw multiple visits from high-ranking members of both parties, including Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese.
A variety of political issues emerged in the electorate during the campaign, with crime dominating in major population centers, while housing, health and transportation took center stage in remote areas.
Labor’s funding commitments included:
- $100 million in immediate funding for NT territories
- $14 million to reduce crime in Alice Springs
- $9.8 million to combat shrimp weed
Some of the Coalition’s promises included:
- $440 million to build three new logistics centers in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine
- $14 million to reduce crime in Alice Springs
- $10 million to improve the Freds Pass Sports and Recreation Center
Aware , updated