Electoral division of Nightcliff
| Nightcliff Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly | |
|---|---|
|
Location of Nightcliff in the Darwin/Palmerston area | |
| Territory | Northern Territory |
| Created | 1974 |
| MP | Natasha Fyles |
| Party | Australian Labor Party |
| Namesake | Nightcliff |
| Electors | 4,797 (2012) |
| Area | 14 km2 (5.4 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Urban |
Nightcliff is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1974, and takes its name from the suburb of the same name. Nightcliff is one of the smallest electorates in the Territory, covering only 3.37 km² and taking in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff, most of Rapid Creek and a small area of Coconut Grove. There were 4,797 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2012.
Nightcliff has tended to be somewhat marginal, with incumbent members generally holding the seat for several years. The seat's first member, independent Dawn Lawrie, was one of only two non-Country Liberal Party members in the first parliament. Upon her retirement in 1983, it was taken by the CLP's Stephen Hatton, who later went on to become Chief Minister of the Territory. Hatton retired in 2001, and while Nightcliff was not a particularly safe CLP seat, it was widely expected that Hatton's son Jason would succeed him. However, he was unexpectedly defeated by Australian Labor Party candidate Jane Aagaard on a large swing that, after preferences, made Nightcliff technically a safe Labor seat. Her victory was part of a Labor sweep of north Darwin that enabled the party to win government for the first time.
Aagaard served a controversial stint as Health Minister and was ultimately axed from the ministry altogether, which led some commentators to suggest that she was in danger of losing her seat at the 2005 election. Despite this, she had very little difficulty holding the seat amid the massive Labor wave that swept through the Territory; after preferences she actually picked up a healthy swing of 8.5 percent, with almost double the votes of the CLP challenger.
Aagaard retired in 2012, and despite a swing against Labor at that year's election, the seat was held for the party by winning candidate Natasha Fyles.
Members for Nightcliff
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dawn Lawrie | Independent | 1974–1983 | |
| Stephen Hatton | Country Liberal | 1983–2001 | |
| Jane Aagaard | Labor | 2001–2012 | |
| Natasha Fyles | Labor | 2012–present | |
Election results
| Northern Territory general election, 2012: Nightcliff[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | Natasha Fyles | 1,389 | 35.7 | −7.3 | |
| Country Liberal | Kim Loveday | 1,260 | 32.4 | −0.9 | |
| Independent | Stuart Blanch | 722 | 18.5 | +18.5 | |
| Greens | Owen Gale | 263 | 6.8 | −17.0 | |
| Independent | Peter Rudge | 170 | 4.4 | +4.4 | |
| Sex Party | Felicity Wardle | 74 | 1.9 | +1.9 | |
| Independent | Andrew Arthur | 16 | 0.4 | +0.4 | |
| Total formal votes | 3,894 | 96.6 | −0.3 | ||
| Informal votes | 136 | 3.4 | +0.3 | ||
| Turnout | 4,030 | 84.0 | +5.2 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Natasha Fyles | 2,304 | 59.2 | −1.5 | |
| Country Liberal | Kim Loveday | 1,590 | 40.8 | +1.5 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | −1.5 | |||