Blain Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
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Interactive map of boundaries as of the 2024 election | |||||||||||||||
Territory | Northern Territory | ||||||||||||||
Created | 1997 | ||||||||||||||
MP | Matthew Kerle | ||||||||||||||
Party | Country Liberal Party | ||||||||||||||
Namesake | Adair Blain | ||||||||||||||
Electors | 5,695 (2020) | ||||||||||||||
Area | 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Demographic | Urban | ||||||||||||||
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Blain is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1997 and is named after Adair Blain, the second member for the federal Northern Territory electorate, and the only Australian sitting federal MP to ever become a prisoner of war. Blain is an urban electorate, covering 4 km² and taking in Palmerston suburbs of Bellamack and Woodroffe and the suburb of Moulden. There were 5,695 people enrolled within the electorate as of August 2020.
The current member for Blain is Matthew Kerle, who was elected for the CLP at the 2024 election.
For the better part of four decades, Palmerston was reckoned as a bastion of conservatism, and all the seats in the city were usually held by the Country Liberal Party. For the first three decades of its existence, Blain was reckoned as a particularly safe CLP seat even by Palmerston standards, with successive members winning it without serious difficulty. This was further emphasised at the 2005 election, when Blain was one of only four CLP-held seats retained by the party after a landslide victory by the Labor Party, and the only CLP seat in the Darwin/Palmerston area.
Longtime CLP MP and Deputy Chief Minister Barry Coulter, who had represented Palmerston-area electorates since 1983 (Berrimah from 1983 to 1987 and Palmerston from 1987 to 1997) held this seat for the final term of his parliamentary career. He was succeeded by Terry Mills, who became a prominent member of the CLP frontbench after the CLP lost power for the first time in 2001. He eventually became CLP leader from 2003 to 2005, returning to the leadership in 2008. After narrowly losing the 2008 Territory election, he led the CLP to victory in 2012 and became Chief Minister.
Mills was deposed in a party-room coup less than a year later, and Nathan Barrett retained the seat for the CLP at the ensuing by-election despite a 10 percent swing.
Barrett was forced out of politics in 2016 after he sent a lewd video to a constituent. [1] At the 2016 election, the CLP was pushed into third place after its primary vote plummeted to 25 percent, losing more than half of its primary vote from 2012. The seat was nearly swept up in the massive Labor wave that swept through the metropolitan area. However, Mills, contesting his old seat as an independent, narrowly defeated former federal MP Damian Hale to return to the legislature. Mills founded the Territory Alliance party in November 2019, but was defeated at the 2020 election, with Mark Turner winning the seat for Labor. [2]
Member | Party | Term | |
---|---|---|---|
Barry Coulter | Country Liberal | 1997–1999 | |
Terry Mills | Country Liberal | 1999–2014 | |
Nathan Barrett | Country Liberal | 2014–2016 | |
Independent | 2016 | ||
Terry Mills | Independent | 2016–2019 | |
Territory Alliance | 2019–2020 | ||
Mark Turner | Labor | 2020–2021 | |
Independent Labor | 2021–2023 | ||
Independent | 2023–2024 | ||
Matthew Kerle | Country Liberal | 2024–present | |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Country Liberal | Matthew Kerle | 1,895 | 46.5 | +12.9 | |
Independent | Mark Turner | 1,584 | 38.9 | +38.9 | |
Labor | Danielle Eveleigh | 596 | 14.6 | −25.9 | |
Total formal votes | 4,075 | 96.2 | −0.1 | ||
Informal votes | 161 | 3.8 | +0.1 | ||
Turnout | 4,236 | 65.8 | |||
Two-party-preferred result [a] [3] | |||||
Country Liberal | Matthew Kerle | 2,938 | 72.1 | +23.4 | |
Labor | Danielle Eveleigh | 1,137 | 27.9 | −23.4 | |
Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
Country Liberal | Matthew Kerle | 2,106 | 52.0 | +2.2 | |
Independent | Mark Turner | 1,946 | 48.0 | +48.0 | |
Country Liberal gain from Labor | Swing | +3.3 |
The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP), commonly known as the Country Liberals, is a centre-right and conservative political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In territory politics, it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal elections as an affiliate of the Liberal Party of Australia and National Party of Australia, the two partners in the federal coalition.
Fannie Bay is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It is located in the inner northern suburbs of Darwin, with its current boundaries including the suburbs of Fannie Bay, Parap, East Point, The Narrows, The Gardens and parts of Stuart Park. It was first created in 1974, and is an entirely urban electorate, covering an area of 11 km². There were 5,473 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020.
Brennan is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1990 as a replacement for the abolished seat of Ludmilla, and derives its name from Harold "Tiger" Brennan, a former member of the Legislative Council and Mayor of Darwin. Brennan includes both rural and urban areas, covering an area of 5 km2 and encompassing the Palmerston suburbs of Bakewell, Gunn, Farrar, as well as part of Rosebery. There were 5,746 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020.
A general election was held in the Northern Territory, Australia, on 18 June 2005. The centre-left Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Clare Martin, won a second term with a landslide victory, winning six of the ten seats held by the opposition Country Liberal Party in the 25-member Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, bringing their total to 19. It was the second largest victory in any Northern Territory election. The only larger majority in the history of the Territory was in the first election, in 1974. In that contest, the CLP won 17 of the 19 seats in the chamber, and faced only two independents as opposition.
Nelson is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1990 as a replacement for Koolpinyah, and was named after Harold George Nelson, the first member for the federal Northern Territory electorate. Nelson is a largely rural electorate, covering 1,415 km² and taking in the small towns of Howard Springs, McMinn's Lagoon and part of Humpty Doo, and some areas between Darwin and Palmerston. There were 5,505 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020.
Braitling is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was created in 1983, when the electorate of Alice Springs was abolished as part of an enlargement of the Assembly. Braitling is an almost entirely urban electorate, covering 9 km² in north-western Alice Springs. The electorate takes its name from the Braitling family, an early pioneering family in the district. There were 5,830 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020.
Nightcliff is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1974, and takes its name from the suburb of the same name. Nightcliff is one of the smallest electorates in the Territory, covering only 4.28 km² and taking in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff, most of Rapid Creek and a small area of Coconut Grove. There were 5,621 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020.
The Division of Solomon is an Australian Electoral Division in the Northern Territory. It is largely coextensive with the Darwin/Palmerston metropolitan area. The only other division in the territory, the Division of Lingiari, covers the remainder of the territory.
Terence Kennedy Mills is an Australian politician. He served as chief minister of the Northern Territory from 2012 to 2013 and was leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) from 2003 to 2005 and 2008 to 2013.
General elections were held in the Northern Territory of Australia on 9 August 2008. Of the 25 seats in the Legislative Assembly, 23 were contested; two safe Labor seats were uncontested. The incumbent centre-left Labor Party (ALP), led by Chief Minister Paul Henderson won a narrow third term victory against the opposition centre-right Country Liberal Party (CLP), led by Terry Mills. Labor suffered a massive and unexpected swing against it, to hold a one-seat majority in the new parliament.
Adam Graham Giles is an Australian former politician and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament. Giles is the first Indigenous Australian to serve as a head of government in Australia.
Michael Patrick Francis Gunner is an Australian former politician who was the 11th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 2016 to 2022. He was a Labor member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, holding the seat of Fannie Bay in Darwin from the retirement of then Chief Minister Clare Martin at the 2008 election until his resignation in July 2022.
The 2016 Northern Territory general election was held on Saturday 27 August 2016 to elect all 25 members of the Legislative Assembly in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament.
A by-election for the seat of Blain in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was held on 12 April 2014. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Country Liberal Party (CLP) member and former Northern Territory Chief Minister Terry Mills. Mills resigned in reaction to being removed as CLP leader and Chief Minister in March 2013 in a party room coup by Adam Giles. The CLP margin in the Palmerston-based seat was 13.2 points.
Nathan Barrett is a former Australian politician who represented the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly seat of Blain from 2014 to 2016.
Eva Dina Lawler is an Australian former politician who served as the 13th chief minister of the Northern Territory from 2023 to 2024, holding office as the leader of the Territory Labor Party. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the electorate of Drysdale from 2016 until her defeat at the 2024 Northern Territory general election. Before becoming chief minister she held various ministerial offices in the Gunner and Fyles governments.
The 2020 Northern Territory general election was held on 22 August 2020 to elect all 25 members of the Legislative Assembly in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament.
Territory Alliance was an Australian political party based in the Northern Territory. It was founded in 2019 by Terry Mills, an incumbent member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory. He had been elected as a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP).
The 2024 Northern Territory general election was held on 24 August 2024 to elect all 25 members of the Legislative Assembly in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament. Members were elected through full preferential instant-runoff voting in single-member electorates. The election was conducted by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission (NTEC).
This is a list of electoral division results for the 2024 Northern Territory general election.