Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler has concede defeat for Labor and in her own seat of Drysdale after massive surprise swings to the Country Liberal Party in the Top End.
Fighting back tears, Ms Lawler told the party faithful shortly after 9pm on Saturday that after a ‘tough, hard fight in this campaign… unfortunately, we haven’t gotten across the line tonight’.
‘It has been an absolute privilege to be chief minister of the Northern Territory. It’s also been an absolute privilege to be the member for Drysdale,’ Ms Lawler said.
‘Tonight is a tough night for Labor, a truly tough night for Labor. It wasn’t the result that we wanted to see. But I think some of those votes, some of those decisions, were made a long time ago.
‘I know Territorians wanted change. We’ve heard that loudly and clearly… I do believe that we leave the Northern Territory in a much better position than previously.’
Ms Lawler said she had congratulated opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro and that Labor would not ‘run down the Northern Territory’ in opposition, and would be constructive’.
Taking over from Natasha Fyles, Ms Lawler was seeking to extend Labor’s eight year hold over the top end, with 25 seats up for grabs when counting official kicked off at 6pm.
But, shortly after 8pm, ABC Chief Elections Analyst Antony Green called the election for the CLP shortly after 8pm with a 13.7 per cent swing to the party.
An hour later, the tally sat at 15 seats for the CLP.
Former chief minister Natasha Fyles told the ABC the result so far, with CLP sitting at 10 seats and Labor at four shortly after 8.30pm according to the ABC, as ‘extremely disappointing’.
It comes after former NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has admitted allowing alcohol restrictions in remote Aboriginal communities to lapse was a mistake.
Ms Lawler has been critical of her predecessor’s decision to let restrictions on alcohol to lapse in mid-2022, legalising booze in dozens of Aboriginal communities for the first time in 15 years.
Asked whether the move was a mistake by the ABC on election night, Ms Fyles said ‘the short answer is yes’, before adding that ‘hindsight is a wonderful thing’ and that alcohol was ‘legal product’.
‘We know the harm that it causes, but at the same time allowing people that choice to opt out of being a community that could have alcohol, as opposed to making communities dry and then they have to go through a process that allows them to have alcohol… So it’s incredibly complex,’ Ms Fyles told the ABC.
‘We know that alcohol mandatory treatment doesn’t work. It’s hugely expensive. But, these are policies the CLP have said they’ll scrap, which health professionals around the world have applauded here in the territory.’
Despite criticism, Ms Fyles defended her successor as the first votes started to be tallied, stating that ‘she certainly hasn’t held back’ and was respected for her work before the election.
As of about 8pm, Ms Fyles was already discussing the prospect of Labor taken ‘second or third place’ as CLP took a significant early lead with six seats as opposed to Labor’s two, according to the ABC.
Both Labor and the Country Liberal Party have campaigned on a platform of being tough on crime, with stubbornly high crime rates and disadvantage, and curfews in Alice Springs centre stage.
The week before the election, Ms Lawler said Labor would deliver a ‘common sense plan to lower crime’ and improve community safety, including a $570million boost to NT Police.
Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro told SkyNews live debate earlier this week that the CLP’s plan for crime was instead to strengthen bail laws and lower the age of criminal responsibility.
The NT’s struggling economy, high costs of living and stagnant population growth are also seen as being in the CLP’s firing line, as it tries to show a change is needed after eight years of Labor.
The election has also thrown open the door to a number of independents, including self-proclaimed laksa queen Amye Un who claimed ‘Labor had to go … Only Amye Un can clean up’.
The NT as made headlines in recent years due to high crime rates, including the imposition of night-time curfews in NT, including after two off-duty police were allegedly attacked in July.
The election also comes ahead of a contested race in Queensland later this year where Labor will again defence its record, as well as a looming federal election due to be called next year.