1974 Northern Territory general election

The first general election for the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday 19 October 1974, and was won by the Country Liberal Party (CLP), formed a few months earlier from the merger of the territorial Country and Liberal parties.

1974 Northern Territory general election
19 October 1974 (1974-10-19) 1977 →

All 19 seats of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
10 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.4
  First party Second party
 
Leader Goff Letts Richard Ward
Party Country Liberal Labor
Leader's seat Victoria River
(won seat)
N/A
Seats won 17 0
Popular vote 13,690 8,508
Percentage 49.0% 30.5%


Elected Majority Leader

Goff Letts
Country Liberal

The CLP won 49.01% of the vote, the Labor Party won 30.46% and independent candidates won 20.54%. The Country Liberals took 17 of the 19 assembly seats. The other two were held by independents; Dawn Lawrie won the seat of Nightcliff, and Ron Withnall won the seat of Port Darwin. Despite finishing second in the vote count, Labor failed to win any seats, therefore being a landslide victory for the Country Liberals. Its support was spread out across the Territory, and was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into seats.

As the territory was still being prepared for self-government, Country Liberal Leader Goff Letts took the post of Majority Leader–equivalent to a state premier. Instead of a cabinet, a seven-person "executive" managed internal affairs.

Results

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Summary of the results of the 1974 Northern Territory general election, Legislative Assembly[1]
 
PartyVotes%Seats
Country Liberal13,69049.0117
Labor8,50830.460
Independents5,73720.542
Total27,935100.0019
Valid votes27,93594.93
Invalid/blank votes1,4935.07
Total votes29,428100.00
Registered voters/turnout39,02775.40
Popular vote
Country Liberal
49.0%
Labor
30.5%
Independents
20.5%
Seats
Country Liberal
89.5%
Independents
10.5%

Candidates

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Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour. Where there is possible confusion, an asterisk is used.

Electorate ALP candidate CLP candidate Independent candidates
 
Alice Springs Jean Leunig Bernie Kilgariff Alan Gray
Arnhem Elizabeth Pearce Rupert Kentish
Barkly Eric Marks Ian Tuxworth
Casuarina Allan Dunstan Nick Dondas Robert McGahey
Dudley Orr
Elsey Kevin Frazer Les MacFarlane Leslie James
James Martin
Fannie Bay James Bowditch Grant Tambling Eleanor Fisher
John McCormack
Gillen Peter Leunig Jim Robertson
Jingili Thomas Bell Paul Everingham
Ludmilla Hazel Robertson Roger Steele Edward D'Ambrosio
Brian Smith
Grahame Stewart
William Sullivan
Macdonnell Dave Pollock Bruce Breaden
Malcolm Wolf
Millner Jack Hunt Roger Ryan William Forrest
John Quinn
Nhulunbuy John Flynn Milton Ballantyne William Hendry
Nightcliff Edward Ellis Alfred Hooper Dawn Lawrie
Port Darwin James Gallacher William Jettner Brian Manning
Ron Withnall*
Sanderson Mark Phelan Liz Andrew Alexander Allan-Stewart
Herbert Sinclair
Stuart Harry Nelson Roger Vale Reginald Harris
Stuart Park Geoffrey Loveday Marshall Perron William Fisher
John McNamee
Tiwi John Nixon Hyacinth Tungutalum Peter Lawrence
Robert Oaten
Noel Padgham-Purich
Lou Stewart
Victoria River Goff Letts Wiyendji Nunggula
Charles Renfrey

References

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  1. ^ Wade-Marshall, Dean Jaensch, Deborah (1994). Point of order! : the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory 1974-1994. Darwin: Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory. ISBN 0731520769.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

See also

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