Labor happy despite no confirmed poll result
Political Reporter
CHIEF Minister Michael Gunner received a hero’s welcome at NT Labor headquarters late on Saturday night despite not having a clear cut majority to form government.
The down-to-the-wire result meant Mr Gunner did not declare success when he arrived at the Waratah Football Club at 11.30pm.
“I am very confident that Labor will form the next government of the Northern Territory,” he said.
“There is a long way to go in some seats, which means we are not done winning in some seats yet.
“The most important battle of 2020 is not a contest between political parties, it is a bigger fight, a fight that affects all of us, that requires all our effort to keep protecting Territorians through this crisis.”
Mr Gunner thanked the Territory’s health service for keeping him alive after his heart attack, Labor volunteers, his parliamentary colleagues and the key women in his life, including wife Kristy O’Brien and “wing woman” Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison.
Labor MLAs who had held on to their seats trickled in throughout the evening, though they remained cautious on declaring a win throughout the night.
Those outside the Territory watching the events play out at home may have suffered nervous breakdowns as social distancing guidelines went out the window.
Ms Manison, Health Minister Natasha Fyles and Tourism Minister Lauren Moss, whose seats were never in doubt, look likely to further increase their margins.
But some of their colleagues will be lost, with many safe MLAs pointing out the human cost of elections.
“It gets really personal, like there are teammates there that you just love and adore and you know they work so hard and you want to see them get over the line so right now I’m just feeling for some of those people too,” Ms Manison said.
“Because there will be some seats that go down to the wire.”
Straight-shooting Sanderson MLA Kate Worden will hold her bellwether seat with an unprecedented increase in her margin.
The loss of Terry Mills in Blain will leave her without a sparring partner on the floor of parliament.
Ms Worden said she was not surprised at the crash of the Territory Alliance vote.
“To be honest, not overall, no,” she said.
“I think, a couple of weeks back … Terry Mills, lost some of his popularity and I think (Territory Alliance) wasn’t consistent in its policies and that’s one thing that we’ve done, is be consistent.”
Karama MLA Ngaree Ah Kit, embracing her mother in an emotional entrance at Labor HQ, paid homage to her father John Ah Kit, who died in July.
Ms Ah Kit said her father’s memory had been a driver for her this campaign.
“Dad was the type of person who always made sure that us kids helped out anybody that we could, wherever we could,” she said.
“It was always about being a part of a team, rolling up the sleeves when there was work to get done instead of staying on the sidelines and expecting everyone else to change the world.
“(He) raised us to be part of the change we wanted to see and it was really nice to be able to get that win over the line tonight.”
Johnston MLA Joel Bowden managed to pull off a scheduling feat, watching his beloved Richmond Tigers win the Dreamtime game against Essendon before arriving at Labor’s shindig an obvious winner in his second election campaign in six months.
THE “project” known as Territory Alliance suffered a humiliating loss, with leader Terry Mills losing his own seat and any other candidate yet to pick up a seat.
However, the mood at the party’s election function last night was optimistic, with Mr Mills telling all of his 21 candidates they should “hold their heads high” despite the disappointing result. “I feel that we have actually given birth to something,” he said of the party. “This party is less than 12 months old … I’ve said a number of times, this is a project about building our community.”
Mr Mills did not officially concede his loss, but had received just over half of his Labor counterpart Mark Turner’s votes at the close of counting last night. The CLP’s Matthew Kerle was closely following Labor and was expect