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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Electoral Division Of Johnston

Johnston is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 2001, replacing the abolished seat of Jingili, and is named after Commodore Eric Johnston, a former Administrator of the Northern Territory. Johnston is an urban electorate, covering only 5 km and taking in the Darwin suburbs of Jingili, Moil, Wagaman and part of Alawa. There were 5,556 people enrolled within the electorate as of August 2020.

History

Johnston was essentially a reconfigured version of one of the original electorates in the Northern Territory, Jingili, which had been held by the Country Liberal Party for its entire existence and was the seat of the Territory's second head of government, Paul Everingham. At the 2001 election, however, the CLP member for Jingili, Steve Balch, was defeated by Labor Party challenger Dr Chris Burns. Burns' victory was part of an unexpected Labor wave that swept through northern Darwin, allowing Labor to win government in the Territory for the first time. The area's CLP voting history led many commentators to suggest that it was likely to revert to the CLP at the 2005 election. As it turned out, Burns was re-elected easily amid that year's Labor landslide with a substantially increased majority, though the margin didn't blow out as much as in nearby seats. Burns retired at the 2012 election, and the seat was retained for Labor by former cricketer Ken Vowles with only a small swing against Labor. Vowles consolidated his hold on the seat amid Labor's massive landslide in 2016. In 2018, Vowles was expelled from the Labor cabinet, and resigned on 31 January 2020, with the resulting vacancy filled at a by-election on 29 February 2020.

Members for Johnston

Member Party Term
  Chris Burns Labor 2001–2012
  Ken Vowles Labor 2012–2020
  Joel Bowden Labor 2020–2024
  Justine Davis Independent 2024–present

Election results

{Results as of 2:30 UTC, 5 September

2024 Northern Territory general election: Johnston
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Country Liberal Gary Strachan 1,452 34.7 +14.4
Independent Justine Davis 1,268 30.3 +30.3
Labor Joel Bowden 1,099 26.2 −19.7
Greens Billie Barton 367 8.8 −7.0
Total formal votes 4,186 98.2 +1.2
Informal votes 120 2.8 −1.2
Turnout 4,204 75.3
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent Justine Davis 2,415 57.7 +57.8
Country Liberal Gary Strachan 1,771 42.3 +8.3
Independent gain from Labor Swing +57.7

References

12°23′20″S 130°52′45″E / 12.38889°S 130.87917°E / -12.38889; 130.87917