Robyn Lambley

Robyn Jane Lambley (born 26 January 1965) is a former Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. She was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly representing the division of Araluen for the Country Liberal Party in a 2010 by-election following the resignation of Jodeen Carney. She resigned from the CLP and contested Araluen as an independent in 2016, then joined the Territory Alliance in March 2020.

Robyn Lambley MLA
Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
In office 29 August 2012 – 6 March 2013
Preceded by	Delia Lawrie
Succeeded by	Willem Westra van Holthe
Member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for Araluen
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 October 2010
Preceded by	Jodeen Carney
Personal details
Born	(1965-01-26) 26 January 1965 Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Political party	Country Liberal Party (until 2015) Independent (2015–2020) Territory Alliance (from 2020)
Spouse(s)	Craig Lambley
Residence	Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Occupation	Social worker

Early life

Lambley was born in Grafton, New South Wales, and moved to Alice Springs in 1993 where she was in charge of the hospital's Social Work Department and Aboriginal Liaison and Interpreting Service. In 2000, she and her husband opened the Mad Harry's retail store. In addition to running the business and raising two children, Lambley served as a councillor on the Alice Springs Town Council, and was deputy mayor of Alice Springs from 2006 to 2007.[1]

Politics

Following the Country Liberal Party's victory in the 2012 territory election, the CLP voted Lambley deputy leader of the party (and Deputy Chief Minister to Terry Mills), replacing Kezia Purick who had been deputy leader prior to the election.[2] She and Mills were initially sworn in as a two-person government, pending the full ministry's swearing-in on 3 September. At that time, among other portfolios, Lambley became Treasurer.

Lambley resigned as the Deputy Chief Minister on 5 March 2013, but stayed on as Treasurer.[3] In a March cabinet reshuffle, Lambley became Minister for Health, a post she retained when Mills was ousted in favour of Adam Giles.

Lambley was sacked from cabinet in February 2015 for helping Willem Westra van Holthe and John Elferink line up support for their attempted party-room coup against Giles. She resigned from the CLP on 17 June 2015 after the release of a proposed redistribution of electoral boundaries that would see her seat of Araluen dismantled.[4] A revised map later saw Araluen retained.

Lambley contested Araluen as an independent in the 2016 Territory election. On the primary vote, she finished just a few hundred votes ahead of her replacement as CLP candidate, Stephen Brown. However, she easily defeated Brown on Labor preferences, taking 58 percent of the two-party vote.[5][6][7]

Lambley often communicates with voters in her district with 'drive thru chats',[8] where she sits by the side of the road and waits for people to pull over and discuss local issues within her community.

On 18 March 2020, Lambley joined the Territory Alliance party founded by former chief minister Terry Mills.[9] She also became deputy leader of Territory Alliance, once again becoming Mills' deputy as she had been Deputy Chief Minister to Mills in the previous CLP government.

References

1. 2010 Araluen By-election, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2010.
2. Sleath, Emma (29 August 2012): Lambley new deputy leader, ABC Darwin, 29 August 2012.
3. "Lambley resigns as deputy NT leader". ABC News. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
4. Bardon, Jane (17 June 2015). "Robyn Lambley quits CLP to sit as independent". ABC Online.
5. Green, Antony. Northern Territory Votes: Araluen. ABC News, 8 August 2016.
6. Billias, Maria (28 August 2016). "Independents on track to hold more seats than CLP after NT election". NT News. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
7. Araluen. ABC News, 31 August 2016.
8. Lambley, Robyn (9 December 2019). "Roadside on Barrett Drive this morning. Stop and have a chat". Robyn Lambley Facebook. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
9. "Robyn Lambley to join Territory Alliance – Alice Springs News". Alice Springs News. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Preceded by Jodeen Carney	Member for Araluen 2010–present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Delia Lawrie	Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory 2012–2013	Succeeded by Willem Westra van Holthe
	Treasurer of the Northern Territory 2012–2013	Succeeded by John Elferink
Party political offices
Preceded by Kezia Purick	Deputy Leader of the Country Liberal Party 2012–2013	Succeeded by Willem Westra van Holthe