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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Electoral Division Of Drysdale

Drysdale is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1997, and is named after Fred Drysdale, a former member of the Legislative Council. It is an urban electorate covering 5 km in north-western Palmerston including the CBD and the suburbs of Driver, Gray, Yarrawonga and most of Moulden. There were 5,828 people enrolled within the electorate as of August 2020.

History

Palmerston had long been considered a conservative stronghold, and for the first eight years of its life, Drysdale was considered to be a safe seat for the Country Liberal Party. CLP candidate Stephen Dunham easily won the seat at the 1997 election and easily retained it at the 2001 election.

Most commentators predicted that the CLP's dominance in Drysdale would continue at the 2005 election, although the Labor Party were running a high-profile candidate, former AFL Northern Territory general manager Chris Natt. However, there was a significant swing to the ALP across the territory on election day, and Dunham was ultimately defeated, along with several other CLP sitting members. The final result took several days to be decided, but ultimately Natt won the seat on a swing of 17.5 percent. Even more surprisingly, he won enough primary votes to take the seat without the need for preferences. However, before the 2008 election, a redistribution erased Natt's majority and made Drysdale a notional CLP seat. Ross Bohlin regained the seat for the CLP on a large swing, but lost his preselection in 2012 and contested the election as an independent candidate. He was defeated by the CLP's endorsed candidate, Lia Finocchiaro.

After a redistribution transferred much of Finocchiaro's base to the new seat of Spillett, Finocchiaro opted to transfer to Spillett even though Drysdale was still a safe CLP seat on paper. However, at the 2016 election, the CLP's primary vote plunged by over 20 percent amid the party's near-total meltdown in Palmerston. Eva Lawler took the seat for Labor on a swing of over 16 percent, becoming only the second Labor member ever to win it. She then increased her majority at the 2020 election, becoming the first Labor MLA to retain a Palmerston seat.

Lawler became Chief Minister in late 2023. However, at the 2024 Territory election, Lawler was routed in her own seat by the CLP's Clinton Howe amid Labor's meltdown in Darwin and Palmerston. Howe reclaimed the seat for the CLP on a swing of over 20 percent, enough to revert Drysdale to its traditional status as a safe CLP seat. He actually won an outright majority on the primary vote, enough to take the seat off Labor without the need for preferences.

Members for Drysdale

Image Member Party Term Notes
  Stephen Dunham
(1956–)
Country Liberal 30 August 1997
18 May 2005
Served as a minister under Burke. Lost seat
  Chris Natt
(1952–)
Labor 18 May 2005
9 August 2008
Lost seat
  Ross Bohlin Country Liberal 9 August 2008
12 July 2012
Resigned from CLP after losing preselection. Lost seat
  Independent 12 July 2012 –
25 August 2012
  Lia Finocchiaro
(1984–)
Country Liberal 25 August 2012
27 August 2016
Served as a minister under Mills. Moved to Spillett in 2016. CLP leader since 2020 and Chief Minister since 2024
  Eva Lawler
(1962–)
Labor 27 August 2016
24 August 2024
Served as a minister under Gunner and Fyles. Labor leader and Chief Minister from 2023 until 2024. Lost seat
  Clinton Howe Country Liberal 24 August 2024
present
Incumbent

Election results

2024 Northern Territory general election: Drysdale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Country Liberal Clinton Howe 2,466 58.7 +28.4
Labor Eva Lawler 1,254 29.8 −12.1
Independent Cindy Mebbingarri Roberts 484 11.5 +11.5
Total formal votes 4,204 96.4
Informal votes 156 3.6
Turnout 4,360 68.7
Two-party-preferred result
Country Liberal Clinton Howe 2,732 65.0 +20.4
Labor Eva Lawler 1,472 35.0 −20.4
Country Liberal gain from Labor Swing +20.4

References

  1. ^ "VIDEO: Bohlin loses CLP preselection". ABC News. 25 February 2012. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  2. ^ "INDEPENDENT BOHLIN: Here is our story from last night about dumped CLP politician Ross Bohlin revealing he'll run as an Independent in August's election". Facebook. 9 News Darwin. 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  3. ^ "2012 NT General Election Report" (PDF). Northern Territory Electoral Commission. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2024. Retrieved 24 January 2025. The former Country Liberals member for Drysdale (Mr Ross Bohlin) was not pre-selected for the party at the 2012 elections. He resigned on 12 July 2012 from the Country Liberals and stood as an Independent.

12°29′06″S 130°58′23″E / 12.485085°S 130.973005°E / -12.485085; 130.973005