Bookies are tipping Labor to win the Northern Territory election but Chief Minister Michael Gunner says he’s expecting a close contest and late night.

August 22, 2020

Northern Territory voters are in for a late-night before they learn who will form the Top End’s next government, the Territory Labor leader says.

The NT goes to the polls on Saturday with bookmakers tipping Labor to retain power ahead of the Country Liberal Party and newcomers Territory Alliance.

But Chief Minister Michael Gunner said it will be a close contest as he delivered his final pitch to Territorians outside a voting booth in Darwin

“I think it will be a later night count tonight before we know what’s going,” he told reporters on Saturday.

Mr Gunner has campaigned on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying Labor are the party to see the NT through the crisis.

“We are asking them to choose between secure borders or open borders. We are asking them to choose between jobs not cuts,” he said.

“You know where you stand with me.”

Despite its success protecting Territorians from COVID-19, Labor has been criticised for its handling of the Territory’s economy – rated as the nation’s worst performer by CommSec for the June quarter.

CLP leader Lia Finocchiaro pointed to the NT’s skyrocketing debt, and said 11,000 jobs had been lost on Labor’s 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 has 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”.

Northern Territory Alliance leader Terry Mills also wants to reactivate the ailing economy, saying his party would encourage investment in agriculture and mining.

But unlike the CLP and Labor, Territory Alliance won’t support onshore gas-fracking projects, which have been touted as a potential saviour for the NT’s financial woes.

Plans to frack in the Beetaloo Basin have caused concern among many voters, with fears it could jeopardise groundwater and Australia’s efforts to meet the Paris emissions reduction target.

It has led to the NT Greens running nine candidates and activist group GetUp reportedly handing out how-to-vote cards in six seats, including two exceptionally marginal Labor electorates.

Mr Mills said hydraulic fracturing doesn’t have social licence to operate in the NT and if Territorians support it, they can “vote for the other two parties”.

The former CLP chief minister and architect of the year-old Alliance party said voters want a change in Territory politics after “one of the worst governments ever” and an opposition that failed to hold them to account.

“I think Territorians are courageous enough to support a new form of governance,” he said.

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