Whenever statistics or budget figures come out, the Northern Territory always has the lowest or highest in any state or territory of whatever is being measured. So it was at the weekend when the conservative side of politics got a higher percentage of seats (80 per cent) than in any state or territory. The Northern Territory is unusual. It is different. The political swing at the weekend’s election in of little national moment and should not be extrapolated nationally.
Bizarrely, Labor actually picked up a swing of about one per cent but has lost as many as four of its nine seats. The old House had 14 Country Liberal Party, nine Labor and two independents. The new House is likely to have 20 CLP and five Labor.
One thing the election shows is how inappropriate the single-member system is in a small territory. Mercifully, the ACT does not have it. If it did, the ACT, too, would be swamped by a major party, in the ACT’s case, Labor.
There is a worrying trend in the Northern Territory. Labor’s support is coming from rural areas with high Aboriginal populations and the CLP’s support is coming from the urban areas. Labor appears to have lost its Darwin seats. The test for the Chief Minister, Marshal Perron, is to govern for all territorians.
A quarter of territorians are Aboriginal. The concern now is that government in the territory will have a racial undertone. The CLP representatives mainly from Darwin which has a lower Aboriginal population cannot help but reflect their constituents’ views. And the Labor representative coming from rural areas with a higher percentage of people from Aboriginal communities will do likewise. It may be an unintentional or sub-conscious thing. It is translates into the implementation of policy by the new government it will be of concern to all Australians. Mr Perron will have to work hard to ensure it does not. Similarly, Labor will have to work hard to develop policies that appeal to all territorians.
Federally, the seat of Northern Territory in the House of Representatives has been a swinging one. It is now held by Labor. It shows that Australians are quite capable of voting one way federally and another way at the state level. This is particularly so in the Northern Territory’s case where local issues are more dominant.
No doubt Mr Perron will now push for statehood for the Territory as soon as possible. It has been his widely stated view and he will now claim he is backed by his electorate. But before he gets too excited he should consider the attitude of the rest of Australia. At present the Federal Government underwrites the Northern Territory to the tune of more than $6000 a head, compared to an Australian average grant to the states of less than $1800. The Northern Territory must stand on its own feet economically a little more securely before it attempts to toddle with total political independence. Certainly, other Australians would draw the line at the 150,000-odd territorians being represented by 12 senators.