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1981 MacDonnell by-election

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1981 MacDonnell by-election

28 March 1981
  First party Second party
 
Ngarla Kunoth (Rosalie Kunoth-Monks).jpg
Candidate Neil Bell Rosalie Kunoth-Monks
Party Labor Country Liberal
Popular vote 1,047 499
Percentage 67.7% 32.3%
Swing Increase 10.1 Decrease 10.1

MP before election

Neville Perkins
Labor

Elected MP

Neil Bell
Labor

A by-election for the seat of MacDonnell in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was held on 28 March 1981. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party member Neville Perkins, the first indigenous person in Australia to hold a shadow ministry in an Australian parliament. The seat had been held by Perkins since 1977.

The CLP selected Aboriginal film activist Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, as its candidate. The Labor candidate was Neil Bell.

Results

[edit]
MacDonnell by-election, 1981[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Neil Bell 1,047 67.7 +10.1
Country Liberal Rosalie Kunoth-Monks 499 32.3 -10.1
Total formal votes 1,546 95.6 −0.2
Informal votes 71 4.4 +0.2
Turnout 1,617 66.6 +5.6
Labor hold Swing +10.1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1981 MacDonnell by-election results" (PDF). Northern Territory Electoral Commission. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  2. ^ Northern Territory Electoral Atlas 1974-1984, Dean Jaensch & Deborah Wade-Marshall, Australian National University