Outgoing chief minister Adam Giles delivers a succinct obituary for his one-term government, which had its 2012 16-seat win cut to two seats

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

It was a thumping. Adam Giles described it best, conceding defeat of his Country Liberal party government in a landslide election result in the Northern Territory. The win was called within two hours of polls closing, and just a handful of seats remained in doubt as the next chief minister, Michael Gunner, made his victory speech an hour later. Giles’s central desert seat of Braitling was one yet to be called. Northern Territory election: Adam Giles says he'll 'have a beer' if he loses Read more

With more than half the votes counted the CLP had a swing against it of more than 18%. Labor did not pick all that up, gaining 6.4% on the last election. At the time of counting there was a bigger swing towards independents with 8.9%. All predictions had suggested an emphatic Labor victory after four years of an increasingly divisive and controversial term of government, but there were a lot of unknowns. Since the last election in 2012 boundaries had been redrawn and new seats created, and new laws for polling day had been introduced. Territorians had optional preferential voting for the first time, and more than 50,000 took the opportunity to vote early without an excuse. Exclusion zones around polling stations prevented anyone campaigning or handing out how-to-vote cards within 100m. The CLP had won government in 2012 with 16 seats to Labor’s eight, with a solitary independent on the crossbench, but after a series of scandals, fights, reshuffles and coups – both attempted and successful – the party was reduced to a minority of 12. Then on Saturday night that 12 became two. Maybe four at most. “Tonight no doubt is a landslide. It’s a thumping,” said Giles in Alice Springs. “Politically speaking tonight’s result is a lesson in disunity is death in politics. It’s a result of personality before the politics, it’s a lesson in looking after oneself rather than thinking about the people. that message has been heard loud and clear within the candidates and the party of the Country Liberals.”

The CLP, the party which had held government for 27 straight years until 2001, would rebuild, he said. “We will remove the disagreements, we will remove the personalities of politics and we will come back bigger and better because one thing is for sure: Labor can’t manage the economy, Labor can’t manage law and order, hence one day in the future the NT will look on us to take leadership, albeit in a more concise, less personality-operated government”. With about 55% of the vote counted, Labor had 15 seats in the bag and another three predicted. The CLP had retained just two. Three independents had won, and it would likely be four. David Tollner, former treasurer and member for Fong Lim, who was not preselected for this election, predicted there would be more independents in parliament than CLP members. The official Labor event, held at the Waratahs sporting club on the outskirts of Darwin’s CBD, was full of Labor faithful as well as city and suburban candidates. Around the corner the CLP gathered in Cullen Bay. The food was better but the mood was sombre. The leader had remained in Alice Springs. Gunner entered the Labor room to shouts and chants of congratulations, and he walked a slow gauntlet of hugs and high-fives, but the audience’s attention waned during his speech and rarely a moment went by without people talking and others shushing them. In one resonating moment, Gunner spoke of his lifetime association with the NT. He is the first territory-born chief minister to be elected since self-governance in 1978. “A boy born in Alice Springs, who grew up in public housing Tennant Creek, who now stands here as chief minister of the Northern Territory,” he said. “In the Northern Territory you can dream big.” The crowd erupted. Gunner said he would work with the independents and CLP opposition, and pledged unity and consultation – two things the electorate had indicated were missing during the CLP term. “You all deserve access to us and we will govern for all Territorians. As Territorians we are stronger when we are united, and we are united in our determination to make our home a better place.”

Lynne Walker, member for Nhulunbuy, told Guardian Australia she was humbled by her party’s victory, and excited that as deputy chief minister she would be representing remote and Indigenous Territorians. Northern Territory election: Michael Gunner claims victory for Labor – as it happened Read more

The federal opposition leader, Bill Shorten, called Gunner early to congratulate him, and then formally sent out a public statement once the victory speech was over. “Territorians have punished the CLP for four years of scandal and controversy, and rewarded Labor for working hard and listening to people,” said Shorten. “Michael listened to Territorians and offered a positive plan for creating jobs, investing in people, and restoring trust and integrity in government. Territorians have responded to Labor’s plan, making the CLP government the first one-term government in the territory’s history.”
The opposition Australian Labor Party defeats the governing Country Liberal Party in a landslide, reducing the CLP to just two seats.