Electoral division of Port Darwin

Port Darwin Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Location of Port Darwin in the Darwin/Palmerston area
Territory	Northern Territory
Created	1974
MP	Paul Kirby
Party	Labor
Electors	5,281 (2016)
Area	11 km^2 (4.2 sq mi)
Demographic	Urban

Port Darwin is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1974, and is an entirely urban electorate, covering only 11 km² and taking in the Darwin central business district, as well as the suburb of Larrakeyah and part of Stuart Park. There were 5,281 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2016.

Port Darwin has almost always been a safe seat for the Country Liberal Party, although it was one of only two seats the party did not hold in the first parliament from 1974 to 1977. It was widely considered as CLP heartland, and was their safest seat in Darwin for many years. The strength of the CLP vote in the seat was seen at the 2000 by-election caused by the resignation of controversial former Chief Minister Shane Stone, when a struggling CLP still managed to easily fend off any challenge in the seat. After the Australian Labor Party victory at the 2001 election, it became the only CLP-held seat west of Palmerston. As a result, there were very few signs in the lead-up to the 2005 election that sitting member Sue Carter was in danger, with most commentators expecting her to win another term. However, on election day, there was a surprise significant and unprecedented swing to the ALP across the Territory. Though the result was so close that it was not known for several days after the election, Carter was ultimately defeated by Labor opponent Kerry Sacilotto by 73 votes. Sacilotto actually won just enough primary votes to take the seat without the need for preferences. She held the seat until the 2008 election, when John Elferink regained the seat for the CLP.

Elferink seemingly consolidated his hold on the seat in 2012. However, he retired ahead of the 2016 election. At that election, Paul Kirby became only the second Labor member ever to win it, amid the CLP's collapse in the Darwin area.

Members for Port Darwin

Member		Party	Term
	Ron Withnall	Independent	1974–1977
	Tom Harris	Country Liberal	1977–1990
	Shane Stone	Country Liberal	1990–2000
	Sue Carter	Country Liberal	2000–2005
	Kerry Sacilotto	Labor	2005–2008
	John Elferink	Country Liberal	2008–2016
	Paul Kirby	Labor	2016–present

Election results

Northern Territory general election, 2016: Port Darwin^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labor	Paul Kirby	1,496	38.4	+5.4
	Country Liberal	Rohan Kelly	1,412	36.3	−19.3
	Independent	Matthew Baker	498	12.8	+12.8
	Independent	Carol Phayer	313	8.0	+8.0
	1 Territory	David Cameron	123	3.2	+3.2
	Independent	Kenneth Wu	52	1.3	+1.3
Total formal votes			3,894	97.9	+0.5
Informal votes			82	2.1	−0.5
Turnout			3,976	75.3	+2.8
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Paul Kirby	1,875	52.8	+12.5
	Country Liberal	Rohan Kelly	1,676	47.2	−12.5
	Labor gain from Country Liberal		Swing	+12.5

References

1. Port Darwin – Electorate summary, Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, 9 September 2016

External links

• Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission