1997 Northern Territory general election

A general election was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday August 30, 1997, and was won by the incumbent Country Liberal Party (CLP).

1997 Northern Territory general election

30 August 1997 (1997-08-30)
All 25 seats of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.0 ( 1.7 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Shane Stone Maggie Hickey Party Country Liberal Labor Leader since 26 May 1995 16 April 1996 Leader's seat Port Darwin Barkly Last election 16 seats 7 seats Seats won 18 seats 6 seats Seat change 2 1 Percentage 54.5% 38.5% Swing 2.6 2.9
Chief Minister before election Shane Stone Country Liberal Elected Chief Minister Shane Stone Country Liberal

Shane Stone continued as Chief Minister.

During the previous term, the CLP had lost the seat of Fannie Bay to Labor in a by-election. The CLP did not win the seat back, but managed to take MacDonnell from Labor and Nelson from Independent Noel Padgham-Purich.

Retiring MPs

Labor

• Neil Bell MLA (MacDonnell)

Country Liberal

• Fred Finch MLA (Leanyer)
• Rick Setter MLA (Jingili)

Independent

• Noel Padgham-Purich MLA (Nelson)

Results

See also: Results of the Northern Territory general election, 1997

↓ 

18	7
CLP	Labour

Northern Territory general election, 30 August 1997[1] Legislative Assembly << 1994–2001 >>
Enrolled voters		101,886
Votes cast		80,479		Turnout	79.0%	–1.7%
Informal votes		4,161		Informal	5.0%	+1.2%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Country Liberal	41,722	54.7%	+2.8%	18	+1
	Labor	29,365	38.5%	-2.9%	7	±0
	Independent	4,327	5.7%	–0.2%	0	–1
	Democrats	484	0.6%	+0.5%	0	± 0
	Greens	420	0.6%	–0.2%	0	± 0
Total		76,318			25
Two-party-preferred
	Country Liberal		57.9%	+1.6
	Labor		42.1%	–1.6

Popular vote Country Liberal   54.67% Labor   38.48% Democrats   0.63% Greens   0.55% Independents   5.67%

Two-party-preferred vote Country Liberal   57.90% Labor   42.10%

Seats Country Liberal   72.00% Labor   28.00%

Candidates

Sitting members are in bold. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour.

Electorate	Held By	Labor Candidate	CLP Candidate	Other Candidates
Arafura	Labor	Maurice Rioli	Jacob Nayinggul
Araluen	CLP	Lilliah McCulloch	Eric Poole
Arnhem	Labor	Jack Ah Kit	Alan Wright	Lance Lawrence (Ind) Thomas Maywundjiwuy (Grn)
Barkly	Labor	Maggie Hickey	Mark John	Barry Nattrass (Ind)
Blain	CLP	Richard Bawden	Barry Coulter
Braitling	CLP	Peter Brooke	Loraine Braham
Brennan	CLP	Stephen Bennett	Denis Burke
Casuarina	CLP	Douglas McLeod	Peter Adamson
Drysdale	CLP	Paul Nieuwenhoven	Stephen Dunham	Stuart Edwards (Dem)
Fannie Bay	Labor	Clare Martin	Michael Kilgariff
Goyder	CLP	Wayne Connop	Terry McCarthy	Strider (Ind)
Greatorex	CLP	Peter Kavanagh	Richard Lim
Jingili	CLP	Catherine Phillips	Steve Balch	Stephen Barnes (Ind) Ross Forday (Ind)
Karama	CLP	John Tobin	Mick Palmer
Katherine	CLP	Michael Peirce	Mike Reed	Peter Byers (Ind)
MacDonnell	Labor	Mark Wheeler	John Elferink	Kenneth Lechleitner (Ind)
Millner	CLP	Peter O'Hagan	Phil Mitchell	Ian Mills (Ind) June Mills (Grn)
Nelson	Independent	Theresa Francis	Chris Lugg	Dave Tollner (Ind)
Nhulunbuy	Labor	Syd Stirling	Richard Davey
Nightcliff	CLP	Paul Henderson	Stephen Hatton	Theo Katapodis (Ind) Betty McCleary (Ind)
Port Darwin	CLP	Geoffrey Carter	Shane Stone	Lex Martin (Ind)
Sanderson	CLP	Michael Atkinson	Daryl Manzie
Stuart	Labor	Peter Toyne	John Bohning
Victoria River	CLP	Paul La Fontaine	Tim Baldwin
Wanguri	Labor	John Bailey	Peter Styles

References

1. "Legislative Assembly General Election 1997". Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.

• Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive