Dave Tollner

Last updated

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Dave Tollner
Dave Tollner.jpg
Tollner in 2015
Deputy Chief Minister
of the Northern Territory
In office
13 March 2013 22 August 2014
YearsTermElectoral divisionParty
2008 2012 11th Fong Lim Country Liberal
2012 2016 12th Fong Lim Country Liberal

Tollner then contested the 2008 territory election, winning the new seat of Fong Lim and defeating Labor minister Matthew Bonson. [4] He was re-elected at the 2012 election, and upon the CLP's victory was appointed Minister for Health, Minister for Alcohol Rehabilitation and Policy, and Minister for Housing. [5] In March 2013, Mills expelled Tollner from his cabinet after a heated disagreement between the two at a party meeting. According to former MLA Daryl Manzie, Tollner swore at Mills and threw a stack of cabinet papers at him before walking out of the room. [6]

Tollner was appointed deputy chief minister of the Northern Territory on 13 March 2013. He caused controversy in August 2014 when he referred to the gay son of fellow CLP MP Gary Higgins as a "pillow biter" and "shirt lifter". [7] [8] As a result, it was announced that Tollner's resignation as deputy leader of the CLP had been accepted. [9] Despite that, Tollner said a few days later that he wanted to be restored to his former position or he would quit the party, leaving it in a precarious position on the floor of the Legislative Assembly. [10] On 1 September, Chief Minister Adam Giles threw open the leadership and deputy leadership to a party room ballot. Giles was re-elected as CLP leader, and Peter Chandler was voted in as his deputy. [11] He has also been accused of making racist comments; in 2014 he was accused of calling two women "lubras", which is a racial slur targeted at Indigenous women. [12]

A redistribution ahead of the 2016 election all but erased Tollner's majority in Fong Lim, slashing it from a fairly safe 7.3 percent to an extremely marginal 0.2 percent. Tollner tried to transfer to the newly created seat of Spillett, which had absorbed much of the eastern portion of Fong Lim. However, he lost a November 2015 preselection battle to Lia Finocchiaro, the member for neighbouring Drysdale. His senior advisor, Tim Dixon, was pre-selected for Fong Lim, [13] [14] but lost the seat to Labor.

Notes

  1. "Labor wins Solomon". ABC. 11 December 2007.
  2. "Mr David Tollner MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia . Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  3. "Nationals decide it is a matter of Truss". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 December 2007. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  4. "2008 Northern Territory Election: Fong Lim". ABC.
  5. Betts, Alyssa (4 September 2012). "Shock cabinet: from DUI to Health Minister". Northern Territory News . Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  6. La Canna, Xavier (7 March 2013). "Infighting, insults plague NT government". The Australian. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  7. NT Deputy Chief Minister Dave Tollner keeps job despite gay slurs against son of colleague: ABC 20 August 2014
  8. CLP turmoil after Tollner’s homophobic rant at staffer: The Advertiser 20 August 2014
  9. Walsh, Christopher (21 August 2014). "Dave Tollner resigned as NT's deputy chief minister and sent to backbench". NT News. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  10. Walsh, Christopher (27 August 2014). "Tollner wants job back or he'll leave CLP with thinner margin". NT News. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  11. "Peter Chandler takes reins as NT's Deputy Chief Minister as Dave Tollner's future remains in doubt". 105.7 ABC Darwin. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  12. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/nt-deputy-dave-tollner-accused-of-racial-slur/news-story/52f4b0dae08cb952e93d206631f4c30f [ bare URL ]
  13. Walsh, Christopher (28 November 2015). "NT Treasurer won't be on the ticket for the Country Liberal Party at the next Territory election". Northern Territory News. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  14. Gregory, Katherine (29 November 2015). "Dave Tollner fails to win pre-selection for NT seat of Spillett, will not contest election". ABC News. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
Parliament of Australia
New division Member for Solomon
2001–2007
Succeeded by
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
New division Member for Fong Lim
2008–2016
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
2013–2014
Succeeded by

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