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1977 Northern Territory general election

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1977 Northern Territory general election

← 1974 13 August 1977 (1977-08-13) 1980 →

All 19 seats of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
10 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.9 (Increase 0.5 pp)
  First party Second party
 
ALP
Leader Goff Letts Jon Isaacs
Party Country Liberal Labor
Leader since 19 October 1974
Leader's seat Victoria River
(lost seat)
none
(won Millner)
Last election 17 seats 0 seats
Seats won 12 6
Seat change Decrease 5 Increase 6
Popular vote 12,769 12,165
Percentage 40.1% 38.2%
Swing Decrease 8.9 Increase 7.7


Majority Leader before election

Goff Letts
Country Liberal

Elected Majority Leader

Paul Everingham
Country Liberal

A general election was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday 13 August 1977. Though the election was won by the incumbent Country Liberal Party (CLP), the party lost five of its seven executive members. Surprisingly, one of the casualties was Majority Leader Goff Letts—one of the few instances where a major-party leader at any level in Australia lost his own seat. The election also marked the emergence of the Labor Party as a parliamentary force: Labor took six seats in the new assembly.

The Progress Party contested the elections, winning 9.76% of the primary vote across the territory, but failed to secure any assembly seats.

The Country Liberals chose Paul Everingham to succeed Letts as Majority Leader. Everingham appointed a new Executive, which included future Chief Ministers Marshall Perron and Ian Tuxworth. The following year, the Territory attained self-government. Everingham became Chief Minister, while his Executive became a Ministry with greatly expanded powers.

Independent Dawn Lawrie retained her seat of Nightcliff at this election, while Ron Withnall lost his seat of Port Darwin to the CLP.

Retiring MPs

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CLP

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Results

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12 1 6
CLP Ind Labor
Summary of the results of the 1977 Northern Territory general election, Legislative Assembly[1]
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Country Liberal12,76940.13Decrease 8.8812Decrease 5
Labor12,16538.23Increase 7.776Increase 6
Independents3,71811.69Decrease 8.851Decrease 1
Progress3,1049.76New0Steady
Communist610.19Increase 0.190Steady
Total31,817100.0019
Valid votes31,81796.82
Invalid/blank votes1,0443.18Decrease 1.89
Total votes32,861100.00
Registered voters/turnout43,28475.92Increase 0.52
Popular vote
Country Liberal
40.1%
Labor
38.2%
Progress
9.8%
Communist
0.2%
Independents
11.7%
Seats
Country Liberal
63.2%
Labor
31.6%
Independents
5.3%

Candidates

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Sitting members are listed in bold. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk is used.

Electorate Held by ALP candidate CLP candidate Progress candidate Other candidates
 
Alice Springs CLP Rosalie McDonald Rod Oliver Brian Evans
Arnhem CLP Bob Collins Rupert Kentish Phillip Brain
Barkly CLP Jean Havnen Ian Tuxworth Neville Andrews Margaret Conway
Billy Foster
Casuarina CLP Dennis Bree Nick Dondas Robert Hoey
Elsey CLP Les MacFarlane Deidre Killen Davis Daniels
Patricia Davies
Fannie Bay CLP Pam O'Neil Grant Tambling Edward Osgood William Fisher
Gillen CLP John Thomas Jim Robertson Peter Johncock
Jingili CLP Diana Rickard Paul Everingham David Cooper John McCormack
George Tarasidis
Ludmilla CLP Christopher Draffin Roger Steele Terry Johnson
Macdonnell CLP Neville Perkins Dave Pollock Mark Fidler
Millner CLP Jon Isaacs Roger Ryan Elva Pearce
Nhulunbuy CLP Denise Fincham Milton Ballantyne Jacob De Vries
Nightcliff Independent Ronald Nobbs Uldis Blums Dawn Lawrie
Port Darwin Independent Michael Scott Tom Harris Ian Smith Brian Manning
Ron Withnall
Sanderson CLP June D'Rozario Liz Andrew Geoffrey Bennett Kitty Fischer
Herbert Sinclair
Stuart CLP Trevor Cutter Roger Vale Kenneth Kitto
Stuart Park CLP Judith Muras Marshall Perron Kenneth Day Ernest Chin
Tiwi CLP Harry Maschke
Bernard Tipiloura
Noel Padgham-Purich*
Cyril Rioli
George Ryan Terrence O'Brien
Strider
Victoria River CLP Jack Doolan Goff Letts Frank Favaro

Seats changing hands

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Seat Pre-1977 Swing Post-1977
Party Member Margin Margin Member Party
Arnhem   Country Liberal Rupert Kentish 16.9 34.1 17.2 Bob Collins Labor  
Fannie Bay   Country Liberal Grant Tambling N/A N/A 1.1 Pam O'Neil Labor  
Macdonnell   Country Liberal Dave Pollock 7.9 20.8 13.8 Neville Perkins Labor  
Millner   Country Liberal Roger Ryan 14.3 26.5 12.2 Jon Isaacs Labor  
Port Darwin   Independent Ron Withnall 3.3 13.8 10.5 Tom Harris Country Liberal  
Sanderson   Country Liberal Liz Andrew 6.5 14.8 8.3 June D'Rozario Labor  
Victoria River   Country Liberal Goff Letts 19.7 23.4 3.7 Jack Doolan Labor  

References

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  1. ^ Wade-Marshall, Dean Jaensch, Deborah (1994). Point of order! : the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory 1974–1994. Darwin: Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory. ISBN 0731520769.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

See also

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