Labor’s Luke Gosling set to win Solomon’s NT seat, closing historic third term

Dorothy R. Barrett May 21, 2022

56 3 minutes read

Labor MP Luke Gosling is expected to retain Solomon’s Northern Territory electorate and become the first politician to win the seat in Darwin three times in a row.

Most important points:

ABC election Antony Green says Luke Gosling has “safely kept” Solomon Country Liberal Party’s Tina MacFarlane tried to win the seat after two terms with LaborLabor’s Marion Scrymgour leading the count in Lingiari’s outback NT seat

With more than 60 percent of the vote counted, the former command is expected to win about 58 percent of the two-candidate preference, a significant increase in its margin in the 2019 election.

Country Liberals candidate Tina MacFarlane is expected to win about 42 percent of the vote.

“Solomon has been held safely by Labour,” said ABC election analyst Antony Green.

Mr. Gosling told a cheering crowd of supporters at the Nightcliff Social Club, “we are the most incredible place in the nation, and we will keep getting stronger, hopefully with federal Labour”.

“It’s early days, everyone says there’s still a lot to count on, but I’m so proud to be part of Albo’s team; I’m so proud of our local Territory team.”

The electorate comprises half the population of the NT but only 0.01 percent of the landmass, including Darwin and parts of Palmerston.

Mr. Gosling was first elected in 2016 when he defeated then-CLP chairman Natasha Griggs by a margin of 7.4 percent.

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Put Solomon in the spotlight this election

Mr. Gosling was re-elected in 2019 by a margin of just 3.1 percent, making Solomon the 12th tightest voter in the country.

The prospect of Solomon returning to the Country Liberals in 2022 has made it the focus of multiple campaign visits from the prime minister, opposition leader, and other senior members of both major parties over the past six weeks.

Luke Gosling cast his vote in Darwin this morning with his family. (ABC News: Myles Houlbrook-Walk)

If the forecast is confirmed, it will be the third time Ms. MacFarlane has run a failed Country Liberals campaign, following previous attempts at Lingiari, the other seat of the NT, in 2013 and 2016.

CLP Chair Fiona Darcy said Ms. MacFarlane was an “excellent candidate” and could not blame her for the efforts made for her party.

The Country Liberal Party took a beating against Solomon candidate Tina MacFarlane. ((included))

“Let’s wait for the vote to be completed,” said Ms. Darcy.

“But they worked so hard, and all credit to everyone.”

Luke Gosling

She downplayed that Ms. MacFarlane was not part of the electorate and said Mr. Gosling was on his side.

“He’s been around for a long time, he’s got a good following, he’s Defence,” she said.

“But I don’t think he’s the best person for the job; of course not.”

The new Chief Minister of the NT, Natasha Fyles, who took over from Michael Gunner, described Mr. Gosling as “Solomon’s history-making member”.

“It’s been two great weeks in the Territory, but there’s no better way than to end it with tonight’s result,” she said.

Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said she was cautiously optimistic about the outcome in the huge electorate.

“I am very confident that we will hold Lingiari,” she said in Darwin.

Lingiari ‘too early to call

About 40 votes have been counted in Lingiari, with Labor candidate Marion Scrymgour currently running for Damien Ryan of the CLP.

However, Mr. Green said it was too early to predict the outcome due to the stark contrast between results in remote polling booths, which traditionally favor Labour, and regional hubs such as Alice Springs, which tend to lean towards the CLP.

Veteran Labor MP Warren Snowdon previously held Lingiari by a margin of 5.5 percent.

Mr. Snowdon has been Lingiari’s local member for twenty years until his retirement.