Leaders of the Northern Territory’s newly elected Country Liberal Party (CLP) government say they will immediately get to work on tackling the Top End’s rampant crime after the party’s overwhelming victory in Saturday’s (August 24) poll.
The CLP will have at least 15 seats in the 25-member parliament, breaking Labor’s year-long stranglehold on every state and federal mainland government. It is an incredible rebound from eight years ago when the CLP was reduced to just two seats. Labor’s two-term government suffered a devastating defeat with a swing of more than 10% to the CLP on a two-party preferred basis.
Chief Minister-elect Lia Finocchiaro who will be the first woman to lead the CLP in the role, declared in her acceptance speech that the hard work on behalf of all Territorians would begin on Sunday (August 25) in “the start of a new day and a new chapter.”
“I will meet with the police commissioner and the chief executive of the Chief Minister and Cabinet to start the work that must immediately begin to make the territory safe. We will do whatever it takes to restore community safety,” the former lawyer vowed.
Ms. Finocchiaro said her party would get to work on delivering its plan to reduce crime, rebuild the economy and restore “our lifestyle. And we will not let you down.”
Labor will have to find a new leader after Chief Minister Eva Lawler lost her seat while just four colleagues from the outgoing government appear to be returning to the Territory parliament — all of them represent seats in the NT bush. The party is facing a total wipeout in Darwin where it has lost seats which have been Labor strongholds for decades.
The CLP also recorded victories in Alice Springs, Palmerston, Katherine and Barkly in the territory outback after campaigning hard on a promise to stamp out crime and “restore the territory lifestyle” following a long period of high crime rates and a flatlining economy with an $11 billion debt under Labor.
Ms. Lawler said it had been an honour to lead the Northern Territory. “I would have liked longer, but it is now up to Labor in opposition to rebuild and look forward, but also to listen to what Territorians have said. That is politics,” she said, adding that she planned to retire from political life.
Deputy federal opposition leader Sussan Ley told Sky News: “Make no mistake there are implications for Anthony Albanese in this result. This was not just an indictment on [Chief Ministers] Eva Lawler, Natasha Fyles and the Territory Labor team, but also on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for leaving the people of the Territory behind.”
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles congratulated Ms. Finocchiaro, but noted it was Territory issues, rather than federal concerns, that fuelled her party’s victory. “The issues that were at hand in this election were Territory-based, law and order being front and centre,” he said.
As counting continued on Sunday, the CLP was looking to take 15 or 16 seats of the 25-seat parliament, with at least two independents elected and the potential for the Greens to pick up their first NT seat.
It would be the worst result for Labor since the first territory election in 1974, when it won no seats despite a 30% vote. This time it received just less than 30%.
With Australian Associated Press
