Daly (Key Seat)
Northern Rural
Safe Country Liberal 9.5%
MP
The retiring CLP MP is Tim Baldwin, who has held this seat under its current name since 2001, though he had represented the district since 1994 under its old name of Victoria River. A former electrical contractor, pastoralist and tourism operator, he served in a number of ministries in the last CLP government between 1997 and 2001. He announced his intention to retire in June 2004.
Profile
Rural electorate in the north of the Territory, mainly west of the Stuart Highway. It surrounds the electorate of Katherine, including some parts of the town west of the Katherine River, as well as the communities of Pine Creek, Batchelor, Daly Waters, Daly River, Port Keats and Timber Creek. Covers 161,109 sq.km, with 45% of the electorate's population of indigenous origin.
Redistribution
Loses around 780 voters in those parts of Katherine west of the Katherine River while gaining 1,300 voters from Goyder, including Acacia Store, parts of Berry Springs and other areas south of the Cox Peninsula Road. The CLP margin appears to fall from 11.8% to 9.5%.
History/Trivia
Daly was the new name adopted in 2001 for the electorate of Victoria River, a seat that had existed since the Territory's first election in 1974. Labor won the seat narrowly in 1990, but lost it to Baldwin in 1994. Baldwin has since gone on to increase his majority substantially. The swing to Labor was only 2.5% in 2001.
Assessment
Should be retained by the CLP, but the history of Northern Territory politics has shown that any seat can change hands when a sitting MP retires.
| Candidate Name | Party |
|---|---|
| Debra Aloisi | Country Liberal Party |
| Robert Knight | Australian Labor Party |
| Dale Seaniger | Independent |
| Elke Stegemann | Greens |
Results
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin | CLP | 1,489 | 57.2 | -6.6 |
| Knight | LAB | 866 | 33.3 | -1.6 |
| Norris | ONP | 154 | 5.9 | +5.9 |
| Spry | DEM | 94 | 3.6 | +3.6 |
| .... | IND | 0 | 0.0 | -1.3 |
| 2-Candidate Preferred Result | ||||
| Baldwin | CLP | 1,609 | 61.8 | -2.5 |
| Knight | LAB | 994 | 38.2 | +2.5 |
| Candidate | Party | Primary % | TCP % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | LAB | 34.5 | 40.5 |
| Country Liberal | CLP | 55.0 | 59.5 |
| One Nation | ONP | 5.7 | |
| Democrats | DEM | 2.5 | |
| Rickard | IND | 2.3 |
Information compiled by ABC Election Analyst Antony Green.
Last Update: 2 June 2005