2021 Northern Territory local elections

2021 Northern Territory local elections
Registered	139,105
Turnout	57.49%

The 2021 Northern Territory local elections were held on 28 August 2021 to elect the councils of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in the Northern Territory, Australia. Six councils also held mayoral elections.^[1]^[2]

303 candidates contested the elections to fill a total of 159 council and mayoral positions. Two councils did not have enough nominations to fill all vacancies, causing supplementary elections to be held.^[3]

A record number of voters were on the electoral roll, with an increase of more than 5,000 people compared to the 2017 elections. More than 25,000 people voted at an early voting centre.^[4]^[5]

Party changes before elections

A number of councillors joined or left parties before the 2021 elections.

Council	Ward	Councillor			Date
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Eli Melky	Independent	Country	8 February 2019
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Marli Banks	Independent	Country	14 June 2019
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Catherine Satour	Independent	Country	14 June 2019
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Matt Paterson	Independent	Territory Alliance	11 May 2020
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Matt Paterson	Territory Alliance	Independent	Late 2020
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Eli Melky	Federation	Independent	20 August 2021

Results

Mayoral elections

Mayors in italics did not recontest their positions.

Council	Before			Result after preference distribution
Council	Mayor	Party		Party		Candidate	%	Result
Alice Springs	Damien Ryan		Country Liberal		Independent	Matt Paterson	50.01		Independent gain
Alice Springs	Damien Ryan		Country Liberal		Independent	Jimmy Cocking	49.99		Independent gain
Barkly	Steve Edgington		Country Liberal		Independent	Jeffrey McLaughlin	65.29		Independent gain
Barkly	Steve Edgington		Country Liberal		Independent	Hal Ruger	34.71		Independent gain
Darwin	Kon Vatskalis		Labor		Labor	Kon Vatskalis	57.23		Labor hold
Darwin	Kon Vatskalis		Labor		Independent	Amye Un^[a]	12.69		Labor hold
Katherine	Fay Miller		Country Liberal		Independent	Lis Clark	53.89		Independent gain
Katherine	Fay Miller		Country Liberal		Independent	Kevin South	46.11		Independent gain
Litchfield	Maree Bredhauer		Independent		Independent	Doug Barden	54.68		Independent gain
Litchfield	Maree Bredhauer		Independent		Independent	Maree Bredhauer	45.32		Independent gain
Palmerston	Athina Pascoe-Bell		Independent		Independent	Athina Pascoe-Bell	73.99		Independent hold
Palmerston	Athina Pascoe-Bell		Independent		Independent	Ryan Pettifer^[a]	15.61		Independent hold

Council totals

Council	Seats
	Independents	Labor	Country Liberal	Greens

Alice Springs	7	Did not contest	1	0
Barkly	10	Did not contest	Did not contest	1
Belyuen	5	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Central Desert	4	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Coomalie	4	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Darwin	8	2	1	1
East Arnhem	6	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Katherine	6	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Litchfield	6	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
MacDonnell	6	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Palmerston	7	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Roper Gulf	11	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Tiwi Islands	11	Did not contest	1	Did not contest
Victoria Daly	2	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
Wagait	5	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
West Arnhem	12	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest
West Daly	5	Did not contest	Did not contest	Did not contest

Aftermath

The Alice Springs mayoral election was decided by just two votes, the closest result that Northern Territory Electoral Commissioner Iain Loganathan said he had ever seen.^[6] Unsuccessful candidate Jimmy Cocking requested a new recount, but it was rejected by the Northern Territory Civil and Administrative Tribunal in October 2021.^[7]

By-elections

Council	Ward	Before			Change		Result after preference distribution
Council	Ward	Councillor	Party		Cause	Date	Date	Party		Candidate	%
Coomalie	Batchelor Township						20 November 2021		Independent	Richard Luxton	60.00
Coomalie	Batchelor Township						20 November 2021		Independent	Bill Baldwin^[b]	26.15
Central Desert	Akityarre						10 February 2022		Independent	Rosslyn Campbell	N/A
Central Desert	Akityarre						10 February 2022		Elected unopposed
West Daly	Nganmarriyanga						10 February 2022		Independent	Terry Sams	N/A
West Daly	Nganmarriyanga						10 February 2022		Elected unopposed
East Arnhem	Gumurr Gattjirrk						17 February 2022		Independent	Joe Djakala	N/A
East Arnhem	Gumurr Gattjirrk						17 February 2022		Elected unopposed
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miyarkka						17 February 2022		Independent	Wesley Bandi Bandi Wunungmurra	N/A
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miyarkka						17 February 2022		Elected unopposed
Roper Gulf	Numbulwar Numburindi						17 February 2022		Independent	Kathy-Anne Numamurdirdi	N/A
Roper Gulf	Numbulwar Numburindi						17 February 2022		Elected unopposed
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miwatj						7 July 2022		Independent	Marrpalawuy Marika^[c]	61.74
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miwatj						7 July 2022		Independent	Wesley Dhamarrandji^[c]	18.79
East Arnhem	Anindilyakwa						22 July 2022		Independent	Lionel Jaragba	N/A
East Arnhem	Anindilyakwa						22 July 2022		Elected unopposed
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miyarkka						22 July 2022		Independent	Bobby Wunungmurra	N/A
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miyarkka						22 July 2022		Elected unopposed
Darwin	Waters	Justine Glover		Independent	Resignation	3 May 2022	7 July 2022		Independent	Kim Farrar	51.20
Darwin	Waters	Justine Glover		Independent	Resignation	3 May 2022	7 July 2022		Country Liberal	Gary Haslett^[b]	24.45
Central Desert	Anmatjere						4 November 2022	No nominations received
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Jimmy Cocking		Independent	Resignation	2022	29 October 2022		Independent	Gavin Morris	56.77
Alice Springs	Unsubdivided	Jimmy Cocking		Independent	Resignation	2022	29 October 2022		Country Liberal	Sean Heenan	43.23
West Arnhem	Gunbalanya						18 March 2023		Independent	Gabby Gumurdul	70.80
West Arnhem	Gunbalanya						18 March 2023		Independent	Owen Naborlhborlh	29.20
Barkly	Alyawarr						6 April 2023		Independent	Lucy Jackson	N/A
									Independent	Mark Peterson	N/A
									Elected unopposed (two vacancies)
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miwatj						5 May 2023		Independent	Marrpalawuy Marika	76.90
East Arnhem	Gumurr Miwatj						5 May 2023		Independent	Ineke Wallis	23.10
Barkly	Patta						6 May 2023		Independent	Elliot McAdam^[c]	33.83
Barkly	Patta						6 May 2023		Independent	Sharon Lake^[c]	25.30
MacDonnell	Rodinga						19 May 2023		Independent	Andrew Davis	N/A
									Independent	Aloyiscois Hayes	N/A
									Elected unopposed (two vacancies)
Central Desert	Anmatjere	N/A		N/A	No nominations received	4 November 2022	16 June 2023		Independent	David McCormack	N/A
Central Desert	Anmatjere	N/A		N/A	No nominations received	4 November 2022	16 June 2023		Elected unopposed
Central Desert	Southern Tanami						16 June 2023		Independent	Warren Williams	N/A
Central Desert	Southern Tanami						16 June 2023		Elected unopposed
MacDonnell	Luritja Pintubi						16 June 2023		Independent	Tommy Jabanardi Conway	58.90
MacDonnell	Luritja Pintubi						16 June 2023		Independent	Amos Egan	41.10
Belyuen	Unsubdivided						13 July 2023	No nominations received
Katherine	Unsubdivided						15 July 2023		Independent	Kerrie Mott^[c]	27.39
Katherine	Unsubdivided						15 July 2023		Independent	Peter McDougall^[c]	27.28
Victoria Daly	Timber Creek						27 July 2023		Independent	Deborah Jones	N/A
Victoria Daly	Timber Creek						27 July 2023		Elected unopposed
Tiwi Islands	Bathurst Island	Peter Kantilla		Independent	Resignation forced after not attending council meetings	22 February 2023	3 August 2023		Independent	John Ross Pilakui	N/A
Tiwi Islands	Bathurst Island	Peter Kantilla		Independent	Resignation forced after not attending council meetings	22 February 2023	3 August 2023		Elected unopposed
Roper Gulf	Never Never						1 September 2023	No nominations received
Darwin	Lyons	Paul Arnold		Independent	Resignation	3 May 2023	2 September 2023		Independent	Sam Weston	53.03
Darwin	Lyons	Paul Arnold		Independent	Resignation	3 May 2023	2 September 2023		Greens	Suki Dorras-Walker	46.97
West Arnhem	Kakadu						9 September 2023		Independent	Mickitja Onus	61.00
West Arnhem	Kakadu						9 September 2023		Independent	Charlotte Meneer	39.00
Tiwi Islands	Bathurst Island						28 September 2023		Independent	Deanne Rioli	N/A
Tiwi Islands	Bathurst Island						28 September 2023		Elected unopposed
Roper Gulf	Never Never	N/A		N/A	No nominations received	4 November 2022	9 September 2023		Independent	Edna Prescilla Iles	56.93
Roper Gulf	Never Never	N/A		N/A	No nominations received	4 November 2022	9 September 2023		Independent	Cecilia Lake	43.07

Notes

^ ^a ^b Second-placed on primary vote as the election did not require preference distribution.
^ ^a ^b Second-placed on primary vote as the by-election did not require preference distribution.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Two vacancies on council, meaning two candidates were elected - this shows their primary vote before preference distribution.

References

^ "Results". Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024.
^ "Today is the NT local government election day. Here's everything you need to know to have your say". ABC News.
^ "303 nominate for 2021 Local Government Elections". Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
^ "Record number of electors on roll for 2021 Local Government Elections". Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
^ "25,000 Territorians have early voted". Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
^ "Two votes decide Alice Springs mayoral race". ABC News.
^ "NTCAT rejects Jimmy Cocking's bid for new recount of Alice Springs mayoral vote". ABC News.

[second-6] Second-placed on primary vote as the election did not require preference distribution.

[secondby-9] Second-placed on primary vote as the by-election did not require preference distribution.

[first-10] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Two vacancies on council, meaning two candidates were elected - this shows their primary vote before preference distribution.

[1] "Results". Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024.

[abc-2] "Today is the NT local government election day. Here's everything you need to know to have your say". ABC News.

[3] "303 nominate for 2021 Local Government Elections". Northern Territory Electoral Commission.

[4] "Record number of electors on roll for 2021 Local Government Elections". Northern Territory Electoral Commission.

[5] "25,000 Territorians have early voted". Northern Territory Electoral Commission.

[7] "Two votes decide Alice Springs mayoral race". ABC News.

[8] "NTCAT rejects Jimmy Cocking's bid for new recount of Alice Springs mayoral vote". ABC News.

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