Electoral division of Nelson (Northern Territory)

Nelson Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Nelson in the Northern Territory
Territory	Northern Territory
Created	1990
MP	Gerry Wood
Party	Independent
Namesake	H. G. Nelson
Electors	5,825 (2016)
Area	2,289 km2 (883.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

Nelson is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1990, and was named after Harold Nelson, the first member for the federal Northern Territory electorate. Nelson is a largely rural electorate, covering 2,289 km² and taking in the small towns of Howard Springs, McMinn's Lagoon and part of Humpty Doo, and some areas between Darwin and Palmerston. There were 5,825 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2016.

Nelson is also a rarity among Northern Territory electorates in that it has traditionally been an independent-held seat, as opposed to being held by either of the major parties. Long-serving independent Noel Padgham-Purich held the seat for the last few years of her career, and only narrowly failed in installing another independent, Dave Tollner, as her replacement. After four years of Country Liberal Party control under Chris Lugg, another independent candidate, Gerry Wood, was successful in winning the seat. Wood was easily re-elected at the 2005 election, polling more than double the vote of his nearest rival, Lugg. He increased his vote by over 20% for the second election in a row in 2008, winning 72.2% of the primary vote with a two-party preferred margin of 28.7% over the CLP, the safest seat in the Territory. His margin dwindled to 9.2 percent when the CLP regained government in 2012.

Members for Nelson

Member		Party	Term
	Noel Padgham-Purich	Independent	1990–1997
	Chris Lugg	Country Liberal	1997–2001
	Gerry Wood	Independent	2001–present

Election results

See also: Electoral results for the division of Nelson (Northern Territory)

Northern Territory general election, 2016: Nelson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gerry Wood	2,804	60.5	+11.5
	Country Liberal	Gerard Maley	1,029	22.2	−18.7
	Labor	Kirsty Hunt	510	11.0	+1.9
	Shooters and Fishers	Marty Reinhold	245	5.3	+5.3
	Citizens Electoral Council	Brigid McCullough	47	1.0	+1.0
Total formal votes			4,635	98.7	+0.7
Informal votes			61	1.3	−0.7
Turnout			4,696	80.4	+2.6
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Gerry Wood	3,209	73.0	+17.5
	Country Liberal	Gerard Maley	1,189	27.0	−17.5
	Independent hold		Swing	+17.5

External links

• Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
• ABC Elections page