A by-election in the seat of Johnston in the Northern Territory was held on 29 February 2020,[1] following the resignation of Ken Vowles, the MLA for Johnston, on 31 January 2020.[2] Vowles was first elected in the 2012 Northern Territory general election, winning 45% of first preference votes and 55.7% of the two-party-preferred vote.[3] At the 2016 Northern Territory general election, Vowles was re-elected with 51% of first preference votes and 64.7% of the two-party-preferred vote.[4]
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The division of Johnston in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 68.5%  11.9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of the electoral division of Johnston in the Darwin/Palmerston area | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Former AFL footballer Joel Bowden won the by-election, representing the Labor Party.[5] In a highly unusual move, the Greens preferenced Labor last on their how-to-vote cards (HTVs), even behind the Country Liberal Party (CLP), due to Labor's support for fracking.[6]
Candidates
editA total of 7 candidates were declared nominated by the NTEC.[7]
| 7 candidates in ballot paper order | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Background | |
| Greens | Aiya Goodrich Carttling | Children's entertainer[8] | |
| Country Liberal | Josh Thomas | Drugs and alcohol outreach worker[9] | |
| Labor | Joel Bowden | Union official and former professional Australian rules footballer[10] | |
| Independent | Trevor Jenkins | ||
| Independent | George Mamouzellos | ||
| Territory Alliance | Steven Klose | Country Liberal candidate for Johnston in 2016[11] | |
| Ban Fracking Fix Crime Protect Water | Braedon Earley | Former Country Liberal president, founder of 1 Territory Party[12] | |
Results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Joel Bowden | 983 | 29.9 | −21.5 | |
| Territory Alliance | Steven Klose | 728 | 22.1 | N/A | |
| Greens | Aiya Goodrich Carttling | 565 | 17.2 | ±0.0 | |
| Country Liberal | Josh Thomas | 536 | 16.3 | −15.1 | |
| Ban Fracking Fix Crime Protect Water | Braedon Earley | 343 | 10.4 | N/A | |
| Independent | Trevor Jenkins | 80 | 2.4 | N/A | |
| Independent | George Mamouzellos | 57 | 1.7 | N/A | |
| Total formal votes | 3,292 | 96.4 | −1.7 | ||
| Informal votes | 123 | 3.6 | +1.7 | ||
| Turnout | 3,415 | 68.5 | −11.9 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Joel Bowden | 1,731 | 52.6 | −12.1 | |
| Territory Alliance | Steven Klose | 1,561 | 47.4 | +47.4 | |
| Labor hold | |||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "By-election date set for Johnston". The NT News. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ Garrick, Matt (29 November 2019). "Labor preselecting for Johnston by-election after Ken Vowles's surprise resignation". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- ^ LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 25 August 2012, NTEC
- ^ "Johnston". 24 October 2018.
- ^ "NT by-election: Ex-AFL star Joel Bowden wins seat of Johnston". news.com.au. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ "Breaking decades of precedent, NT Greens to preference conservatives ahead of Labor". ABC News. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ Green, Antony. "Johnston by-election". ABC News. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ "Aiya Goodrich Carttling".
- ^ "Josh Thomas announced as CLP candidate for Johnston". Northern Territory News. 7 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
- ^ Smith, Mark J. "2020 NT election: A hung Parliament is possible". Alice Springs News.
- ^ "Steven Klose to run for Territory Alliance". NT News.
- ^ Chlanda, Erwin. "Braedon Earley to stand for Parliament". Alice Springs News.
- ^ "Division of Johnston results". Northern Territory Electoral Commission. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.