Electoral division of Karama

Karama
Northern TerritoryLegislative Assembly

Location of Karama in the Darwin/Palmerston area
Territory Northern Territory
Created 1987
MP Delia Lawrie
Party Australian Labor Party
Namesake Karama
Electors 4,713 (2012)
Area 4 km2 (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 4,713 people enrolled within the electorate as of August 2012.

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.

Members for Karama

MemberPartyTerm
  Mick Palmer Country Liberal 1987–2001
  Delia Lawrie Labor 2001–present

Election results

Northern Territory general election, 2012: Karama[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Delia Lawrie 2,072 52.7 −3.5
Country Liberal Rohan Kelly 1,634 41.5 +6.6
Greens Frances Elcoate 229 5.8 +5.8
Total formal votes 3,935 96.4 +0.5
Informal votes 145 3.6 −0.5
Turnout 4,080 86.6 +2.6
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Delia Lawrie 2,219 56.4 −4.4
Country Liberal Rohan Kelly 1,716 43.6 +4.4
Labor hold Swing −4.4

References

External links

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