The Northern Territory’s newest political party says voters are courageous enough to support a new form of governance.

August 21, 2020

Political change could be coming to the Northern Territory with the leader of the Top End’s newest political party saying his team can win the election.

The NT goes to the polls on Saturday, with Labor tipped to reclaim power, but newcomer Territory Alliance says voters won’t be taken for fools a second time.

“I think Territorians are courageous enough to support a new form of governance,” Terry Mills told reporters on Friday.

Mr Mills said he’d travelled across the NT talking to locals and there was the only way one forward – “to have a new model”.

“We can not afford to do the same thing and expect different results,” he said.

Mr Mills said there had been a vacuum at the heart of Top End politics caused by “one of the worst governments ever” and an opposition that failed to hold them to account.

“We have to recognise democracy has been damaged … were not dealing with political problems anymore … they are very complex economic and social problems and we have to have a new approach,” he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Michael Gunner made his final pitch to voters ahead of the national cabinet meeting.

“Who do you choose to steer the territory through the coronavirus crisis. Who do you trust to make the hard decisions, the right calls for your family,” he said.

Territory Labor has attempted to turn the NT election into a referendum on who Territorians trust to protect them during the coronavirus crisis.

However, it’s has been repeatedly criticised during the campaign for its handling of the Territory’s ailing economy – rated as the nation’s worst performer by CommSec for the June quarter.

Mr Gunner said the coronavirus and economics are intertwined and the virus has to be controlled so the NT can become the “comeback capital” of Australia.

“The opportunities are here. The jobs are here,” he said.

But Country Liberal Party leader Lia Finocchiaro says Labor is the problem and NT’s debt has skyrocketed, with 11,000 jobs lost, on their watch.

She said the CLP would work to create jobs and support police to tackle crime if elected.

“These are the clear issues Territorians are telling us no matter where you go,” she said.

Ms Finocchiaro promised to reduce approval time frames for business, fast track major projects and simplify mining taxes to “signal to the world the territory is open for business”.

It comes as the NT Electoral Commission raises concerns over low voter turnout in remote areas, with some divisions, such Arafura east of Darwin, failing to reach 50 per cent voter turnout.

Events such as funerals and ceremonies, which were put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic and are now taking place, are one cause.

As is the Australian Electoral Commission’s automatic update system, which does not operate in areas where there is no postal delivery to street addresses.

Voter turnout isn’t a problem everywhere, however, with more than 47 per cent of eligible NT voters casting their ballot at early voting centres by Thursday afternoon.

It equates to 67,058 votes out of the 141,225 people on the electoral roll, the electoral commission says.