Greens make history with first ever win in Northern Territory

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Northern Territory Greens have made history, winning their first ever seat in Parliament and unseating former Chief Minister Natasha Fyles. The National Greens touting the victory as a message to Labor to end their support of fossil fuels.

Transcript

00:00The celebrations on election night premature, the Greens narrowly losing the seat they expected

00:10to win in Fanny Bay.

00:12But today, almost two weeks later, it is time to celebrate in the previously safe Labor

00:17seat of Knightcliffe.

00:19The ABC projecting Kat McNamara will win by just over 30 votes.

00:24With not enough mail ballots left to close the margin, her federal Greens colleagues

00:29say it's a wake-up call on the environment.

00:32The kowtowing to the gas industry, to the influence that the gas and fracking industry

00:38has had over both sides of politics in the NT.

00:41The success comes at the expense of Natasha Files, a vocal supporter of fracking and the

00:47development of the Middle Arm industrial hub.

00:50Exports and jobs are why we love Middle Arm.

00:53That's why we're building it.

00:56The teals and trolls can spread their nonsense about it all they want.

01:00But they should know it's going to take a lot more than a couple of tweets for us to

01:04back down.

01:05Knightcliffe voters communicating a very different message on election night.

01:10There's a real community sentiment here that we need to protect what we have in the territory.

01:14That's wonderful and good luck to them.

01:17Hopefully there's a change coming.

01:18This was Labor's safest electorate in the territory, now it's gone.

01:23The party's leader today conceding they have a lot of work to do, but it won't be easy.

01:28It's losing seats on the right to the country Liberals and now on the left to the Independents

01:33and Greens.

01:34This defeats a serious problem for the Labor Party.

01:37It puts them back into the position they were in the 1980s and 1990s of holding almost no

01:42urban seats and being predominantly a regional and remote party.

01:47But some in Knightcliffe not so sure losing Natasha Files was a great result.

01:52I think it'll be a sad loss given her background and wealth of experience.

01:57Selena Yubo now leading an opposition of just four members and holding no seats in any urban

02:03centres.

02:04The 15th Assembly now taking shape, 17 CLP, four Labor, three Independents and a Green.

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