Electoral division of Karama

Karama Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Location of Karama in the Darwin/Palmerston area
Territory	Northern Territory
Created	1987
MP	Ngaree Ah Kit
Party	Australian Labor Party
Namesake	Karama
Electors	5,228 (2016)
Area	4 km^2 (1.5 sq mi)
Demographic	Urban

Karama is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1987, and derives its name from the suburb of the same name. It is an urban electorate, covering only 4 km² and taking in the Darwin suburbs of Karama and Malak. There were 5,228 people enrolled within the electorate as of August 2016.

The Country Liberal Party's Mick Palmer won the seat in 1987, and as the incumbent member during the height of the CLP's dominance of Territory politics, had little trouble holding the seat through the next three elections. Until the 2000s, it was almost unheard of for a sitting member to be defeated, so few thought Palmer would face much difficulty gaining a fourth term at the 2001 election. However, the Australian Labor Party swept through the northern suburbs of Darwin and Palmer was unexpectedly defeated by the ALP candidate, Delia Lawrie, the daughter of former long-serving independent MP Dawn Lawrie. Lawrie's victory created the first mother-daughter political dynasty in Australian politics, and she soon established herself in the electorate. She was easily re-elected at the 2005 election, significantly increasing her majority. Lawrie was disendorsed by the Labor Party in October 2015, and she resigned from the party a few days later. She nominated as an independent candidate for Karama at the 2016 election, against the preselected Labor candidate, Ngaree Ah Kit.

Members for Karama

Member		Party	Term
	Mick Palmer	Country Liberal	1987–2001
	Delia Lawrie	Labor	2001–2015
		Independent	2015–2016
	Ngaree Ah Kit	Labor	2016–present

Election results

Northern Territory general election, 2016: Karama^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labor	Ngaree Ah Kit	1,373	34.0	−18.7
	Independent	Delia Lawrie	1,316	32.6	+32.6
	Country Liberal	Jarred Ilett	923	22.8	−18.7
	1 Territory	Edward D'Solo	249	6.2	+6.2
	Independent	Trevor Jenkins	79	2.0	+2.0
	Independent	Sonja Jebbink	56	1.4	+1.4
	Independent	Jimmy Gimini	44	1.1	+1.1
Total formal votes			4,040	97.7	+1.3
Informal votes			93	2.3	−1.3
Turnout			4,133	79.1	−1.1
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Ngaree Ah Kit	1,702	50.8	−5.6
	Independent	Delia Lawrie	1,647	49.2	+49.2
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

References

1. Karama – Electorate summary, Northern Territory Electoral Commission, 5 September 2016

External links

• Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission