Labor has survived the first major political test of the COVID-19 pandemic by retaining government at the Northern Territory election.
Counting of votes will continue on Sunday, but Michael Gunner told supporters in a late-night speech he would lead a Labor government.
“Labor is in front on the votes, Labor is in front on the seats and tonight I can tell you I am very confident Labor will form the next government of the Northern Territory,” he said on Saturday.
In a sign of the impact of COVID-19 fears, only about 20 per cent of voters cast their ballots on election day itself.
It’s been a challenging year for the Northern Territory’s chief minister with a heart attack, the COVID-19 crisis, the birth of a son, and an election.
The former Big W shelf-stacker, aged 44, campaigned hard on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, telling voters he’s the man to see the NT through the crisis.
He paid tribute to health workers, police and other frontline staff who had helped the NT get through the pandemic with only 33 cases of COVID-19 and no deaths making it “one of the safest places in the world”.
“This has been a hard fight in a tough year. 2020 – bloody hell,” he said.
On Saturday night, Labor secured 38.9 per cent of the primary vote to the Country Liberal Party’s 31.8 per cent.
Mr Gunner’s team was on track to take at least 12 seats in the 25-seat assembly, despite a 3.3 per cent swing against it.
But Labor scrutineers expected the 13th seat to be secured, delivering a majority.
Despite strict rules on social distancing being the norm across the country, Mr Gunner hugged and shook hands with supporters in Darwin.
Country Liberal Party leader Lia Finocchiaro stepped up to the podium in a positive mood, having lifted her party’s stocks from well above the two seats it took into the election.
It could pick up as many as nine seats, but appeared on track to clinch seven.
The 35-year-old lawyer said she had started a “new generation” for the CLP.
“There are still a lot of votes to count, but if there is one thing I know it is that the CLP is back.”
The Territory Alliance formed by former chief minister Terry Mills was struck a blow with the party leader on track to lose his seat of Blain ending two decades in politics.
However Mr Mills was not formally conceding on Saturday night and remained positive that the NT needed an alternative to the major parties.
Territory Alliance could win at least one seat.
Labor leader Mr Gunner has faced both criticism and praise for his tough stance on COVID-19 border closures.
He comfortably retained his inner-Darwin seat.
The likely victory comes eight months after Mr Gunner suffered a heart attack while at home with his pregnant wife, ABC journalist Kristy O’Brien.
“It came from nowhere, there were no warning signs,” he wrote on Facebook in January.
He was rushed to a hospital and later underwent surgery.
Three months later the chief minister returned to hospital for better news – the birth of his son Hudson Gunner over the Easter long weekend in April.
But Hudson arrived amid the coronavirus crisis, just weeks after Mr Gunner ordered the Territory’s borders closed.
-AAP
