Electoral Division Of Nelson (Northern Territory) on:
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Nelson is an 
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
Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
{{coord, -12.555285, 131.068505, display=title
electoral division
An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...
of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. It was first created in 1990 as a replacement for Koolpinyah, and was named after Harold George Nelson
Harold George "H. G." Nelson (21 December 1881 – 26 April 1947) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who was the first person to represent the Northern Territory in the House of Representatives. He arrived in the territory in 1914 ...
, the first member for the federal Northern Territory electorate. Nelson is a largely rural electorate, covering 1,415 km² and taking in the small towns of Howard Springs, McMinn's Lagoon and part of Humpty Doo
Humpty Doo is a town in Australia's Northern Territory, situated just south of the Arnhem Highway, approximately 40 km from Darwin. At the , Humpty Doo had a population of 4,313 people. Its local government area is Litchfield Municipality ...
, and some areas between Darwin and Palmerston. There were 5,505 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020.
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
Cecilia Noel Padgham-Purich (born 25 December 1927) is an Australian former politician. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1977 to 1997, representing Tiwi until 1983, Koolpinyah until 1990 and Nelson thereaft ...
held the seat for the last few years of her career, having previously represented most of the area as the member for Koolpinyah from 1983 to 1990. She only narrowly failed in installing another independent, Dave Tollner
David William Tollner (born 31 January 1966) is an Australian politician. He was the Country Liberal Party member for Solomon in the Australian House of Representatives from 2001 to 2007, and then served in the Northern Territory Legislative Ass ...
, as her replacement. Country Liberal Party
The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP), commonly known as the Country Liberals, is a centre-right and conservative political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In territory politics, it operates in a two-party system wi ...
member Chris Lugg
Christopher Dennis Lugg (born 17 May 1948) is an Australian former politician. He was the Country Liberal Party member for Nelson in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1997 to 2001. He succeeded long-serving independent Noel Pad ...
, held the seat for one term before being defeated by another independent, Gerry Wood
Gerard Vincent Wood (born 5 April 1950) is an Australian politician. A former mayor of the Northern Territory shire of Litchfield, he was an independent member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2020, representing the e ...
. Wood was easily re-elected at the 2005 election
The following elections occurred in the year 2005.
* 2005 United Nations Security Council election
Africa
* 2005 Burkinabé presidential election
* 2005 Burundian Senate election
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* 2005 Burundian constitutio ...
, 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
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, 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
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, but ballooned to 23.7 percent during Labor's victory in 2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
.
Wood retired at the 2020 election. Gerard Maley
Gerard Maley (born 1970) is an Australian politician who serves as an MLA for Nelson as a member of the Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. He has been the Deputy Leader of the Country Liberal Party since Septemb ...
won the seat for the CLP on his second attempt after losing to Wood in 2016. Maley actually garnered enough primary votes to win the seat on the first count. However, for most of its existence, Nelson has been a comfortably safe CLP seat in "traditional" two-party matchups against Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
, so Maley's victory was not considered an upset.
Members for Nelson
Election results
See also
* Electoral division of Nelson (disambiguation)Notes
References
External links
Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
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Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...