# 1987 Northern Territory general election

A general election was held in the Northern Territory, Australia on Saturday 7 March 1987. Although the incumbent Country Liberal Party (CLP) won a majority under new leader Stephen Hatton, the party's vote was down almost 20 percentage points.
At the 1987 election, the CLP faced a challenge from the Northern Territory Nationals, a rebel conservative party led by former CLP Chief Minister Ian Tuxworth that was aligned with then-Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, but not affiliated with the federal National Party of Australia. The NT Nationals took 17.79% of the primary vote, mostly from the CLP, but finished with only one member in the assembly. Hatton, despite a loss of three seats, retained a working majority.
Labor's vote remained virtually unchanged. As in 1983, its assembly tally was six.
Two former-CLP independents were re-elected in their seats. Noel Padgham-Purich was re-elected to Koolpinyah, while Denis Collins was re-elected to Sadadeen as an independent. Former Chief Minister Ian Tuxworth was also re-elected as a member of the NT Nationals.
Ian Tuxworth's election to the seat of Barkly was declared void after independent candidate Maggie Hickey challenged the result on the basis that the Labor candidate, Keith Hallet, held British nationality and was not an Australian citizen. Due to the close result (Tuxworth had won by only 19 votes), Justice John Nader voided the election on 30 July 1987, and a by-election was held on 5 September 1987, at which Tuxworth regained the seat.

## Results

| 16 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| CLP | Nat | Ind | Labor |
Summary of the results of the 1987 Northern Territory general election, Legislative Assembly :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– |
| | Country Liberal | 20,074 | 39.42 | 18.80 | 16 | 3 |
| | Labor | 18,307 | 35.95 | 0.36 | 6 | |
| | NT Nationals | 9,058 | 17.79 | New | 1 | New |
| | Independents | 3,489 | 6.85 | 2.47 | 2 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 50,928 | 100.00 | – | 25 | – |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 50,928 | 95.86 | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 2,199 | 4.14 | 1.12 | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 53,127 | 100.00 | – | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 74,633 | 71.18 | 10.39 | | |
| | Country Liberal | | 57.3 |
| | Labor | | 42.7 |
| Total | Total | | |
Popular vote
Country Liberal
37.94%
Labor
34.60%
NT Nationals
17.12%
Independents
6.59% :
Two-party-preferred vote
Country Liberal
57.30%
Labor
42.70% :
Seats
Country Liberal
64.00%
Labor
24.00%
NT Nationals
4.00%
Independents
8.00% :

## Retiring MPs
### Labor

* Bob Collins MLA (Arafura)

### Country Liberal

* Roger Steele MLA (Elsey)

## Candidates

Sitting members are listed in bold. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour.
| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | CLP candidate | Nationals candidates | Independent candidates |
| Arafura | Labor | Stan Tipiloura | Dorothy Fox | Peter Watton | |
| Araluen | CLP | Di Shanahan | Eric Poole | Enzo Floreani | |
| Arnhem | Labor | Wes Lanhupuy | John Hancock | Brian Dalliston | Bruce Foley |
| Barkly | CLP | Keith Hallett | Gary Smith | Ian Tuxworth | Maggie Hickey |
| Braitling | CLP | Mike Alsop | Roger Vale | Max Stewart | |
| Casuarina | CLP | John Reeves | Nick Dondas | Giuseppe Nicolosi | |
| Fannie Bay | CLP | John Waters | Marshall Perron | Stephen Marshall | Edward Osgood Strider |
| Flynn | CLP | John Omond | Ray Hanrahan | Jacqueline Anderson | |
| Jingili | CLP | Bob Wharton | Rick Setter | Harry Maschke | |
| Karama | CLP | Robyn Crompton | Mick Palmer | Lionel Preston | |
| Katherine | CLP | Phil Maynard | Mike Reed | Jim Forscutt | |
| Koolpinyah | CLP | Peter Ivinson | Pat Loftus | David Loveridge | Noel Padgham-Purich |
| Leanyer | CLP | David Lamb-Jenkins | Fred Finch | David Wane | |
| Ludmilla | CLP | Chris McMah | Col Firmin | Brian Thomas | Sydney Cross |
| MacDonnell | Labor | Neil Bell | J. Davis | Ron Liddle | |
| Millner | Labor | Terry Smith | John Baban | Michael Foley | |
| Nhulunbuy | Labor | Dan Leo | Pam Steele-Wareham | Deane Crowhurst | Pat Ellis |
| Nightcliff | CLP | John Rowell | Stephen Hatton | Brian Brent | |
| Palmerston | CLP | Tony Henry | Barry Coulter | Michael Ting | |
| Port Darwin | CLP | Russell Kearney | Tom Harris | James Maclean | |
| Sadadeen | Independent | Meredith Campbell | Shane Stone | Lynne Peterkin | Denis Collins |
| Sanderson | CLP | Peter McQueen | Daryl Manzie | Lawrence Armstrong | |
| Stuart | Labor | Brian Ede | Jim Sinclair | Ian Drennan | Vince Forrester |
| Victoria River | CLP | Leon White | Terry McCarthy | Ronald Wright | Lance Lawrence |
| Wanguri | CLP | Peter McNab | Don Dale | Graeme Bevis | |

## Seats changing hands

| Seat | Pre-1987 | Pre-1987 | Pre-1987 | Pre-1987 | Swing | Post-1987 | Post-1987 | Post-1987 | Post-1987 |
| Seat | Party | Party | Member | Margin | Swing | Margin | Member | Party | Party |
| Barkly | | Country Liberals | Ian Tuxworth | 10.3 (CLP) | N/A | 0.5 | Ian Tuxworth | NT Nationals | |
| Koolpinyah | | Independent | Noel Padgham-Purich | 12.5 (CLP) | 31.3 | 18.8 | Noel Padgham-Purich | Independent | |
| Sadadeen | | Independent | Denis Collins | 20.5 (CLP) | 40.2 | 19.7 | Denis Collins | Independent | |

## Post-election pendulum

The following pendulum is known as the Mackerras pendulum, invented by psephologist Malcolm Mackerras. The pendulum works by lining up all of the seats held in the Legislative Assembly according to the percentage point margin they are held by on a two-party-preferred basis. This is also known as the swing required for the seat to change hands. Given a uniform swing to the opposition or government parties, the number of seats that change hands can be predicted.