Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)
The Australian Labor Party , commonly known as Territory Labor, is the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Labor Party. It has been the governing party of the Northern Territory since winning the 2016 election under Michael Gunner. It previously held office from 2001 to 2012.History
The first Labor candidate from the Northern Territory - which was then represented by the Northern Territory seat in the South Australian House of Assembly - was Pine Creek miner and former City of Adelaide alderman James Robertson in 1905. The first Labor MP was Thomas Crush, who was elected at a 1908 by-election and accepted into the South Australian Labor caucus despite not having signed the Labor pledge. He was re-elected in 1910, and served until the Northern Territory formally separated from South Australia in 1911, resulting in the loss of the seat in state parliament. A non-voting federal seat in the Australian House of Representatives, the Division of Northern Territory, was established for the 1922 election, and was won by independent candidate and former union leader Harold George Nelson, who joined the Labor caucus after the election.
In March 1928, a general meeting of the North Australian Workers Union resolved to establish a Northern Territory branch of the Labor Party and elected an interim executive. In July 1928, it was reported that the federal secretary had requested that the South Australian branch instead form a Darwin branch. It was reported in October 1928 that affiliation with the South Australian branch had been granted, and that the South Australian state executive had re-endorsed Nelson to contest the 1929 election. An Alice Springs branch was established in 1947. The Northern Territory branch was upgraded to receive the status of a state branch in August 1967.
The Northern Territory Legislative Council was established in 1947 as a partly elected representative body with limited powers, with the Labor Party endorsing candidates from the first election. Labor members of the Legislative Council included Tom Bell, Eric Marks, Charles Orr, Len Purkiss, Tom Ronan, and Richard Ward
In 1974, the Legislative Council was replaced by the fully elected Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in preparation for self-governance. However, the 1974 election was disastrous for Labor, which failed to win a single seat. The party recovered to some extent at the 1977 election, winning six seats, but remained in opposition until their victory at the 2001 election under Clare Martin. Labor held office until the 2012 election, spent one term in opposition, and returned to power at the 2016 election.Leaders
Note: this section only lists elections for the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.
| Election | Leader | Seats | ± | Total votes | % | ±% | Position |
| 1974 | Richard Ward | | 0 | 8,508 | 30.5% | 30.5% | Extra-parliamentary |
| 1977 | Jon Isaacs | | 6 | 12,165 | 38.2% | 7.7% | Opposition |
| 1980 | Jon Isaacs | | 1 | 15,818 | 39.4% | 1.2% | Opposition |
| 1983 | Bob Collins | | 1 | 17,505 | 35.6% | 3.8% | Opposition |
| 1987 | Terry Smith | | 0 | 18,307 | 36.0% | 0.4% | Opposition |
| 1990 | Terry Smith | | 3 | 23,827 | 36.6% | 0.6% | Opposition |
| 1994 | Brian Ede | | 2 | 30,507 | 41.4% | 4.8% | Opposition |
| 1997 | Maggie Hickey | | 0 | 29,365 | 38.5% | 2.9% | Opposition |
| 2001 | Clare Martin | | 6 | 33,038 | 40.6% | 2.1% | Majority government |
| 2005 | Clare Martin | | 6 | 44,822 | 51.9% | 11.3% | Majority government |
| 2008 | Paul Henderson | | 6 | 34,557 | 43.2% | 8.7% | Majority government |
| 2012 | Paul Henderson | | 5 | 33,594 | 36.5% | 6.7% | Opposition |
| 2016 | Michael Gunner | | 11 | 41,476 | 42.2% | 5.7% | Majority government |
