Drysdale is an
electoral division
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
of the
Legislative Assembly in Australia's
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
. It was first created in 1997, and is named after
Fred Drysdale, a former member of the
Legislative Council. It is an urban electorate covering 5 km² in north-western
Palmerston Palmerston may refer to:
People
* Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer
* Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston
** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman an ...
including the CBD and the suburbs of
Driver,
Gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...
,
Yarrawonga
Yarrawonga is a town in the Shire of Moira local government area in the Australian state of Victoria. The town is situated on the south bank of the Murray River, the border between Victoria and New South Wales, and is located approximately ...
and most of
Moulden. There were 5,828 people enrolled within the electorate as of August 2020.
Palmerston had long been considered a conservative stronghold, and for the first eight years of its life, Drysdale was considered to be a safe seat for the
Country Liberal Party
The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...
. CLP candidate
Stephen Dunham easily won the seat at the
1997 election and easily retained it at the
2001 election.
Most commentators predicted that the CLP's dominance in Drysdale would continue at the
2005 election, although the
Labor Party were running a high-profile candidate, former
AFL Northern Territory
AFL Northern Territory is the governing body for Australian rules football in the Northern Territory of Australia. It supervises multiple leagues, but is mainly concerned with the co-ordination of the Northern Territory Football League. Th ...
general manager
Chris Natt
Christopher William Natt (born 9 December 1952) is a former Australian politician and Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
Football career
A ...
. However, there was a significant swing to the ALP across the territory on election day, and Dunham was ultimately defeated, along with several other CLP sitting members. The final result took several days to be decided, but ultimately Natt won the seat on a swing of 17.5 percent. Even more surprisingly, he won enough primary votes to take the seat without the need for preferences. However, before the 2008 election, a redistribution erased Natt's majority and made Drysdale a notional CLP seat.
Ross Bohlin
Ross Oscar Charles Bohlin is a former Australian politician. He was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, and held his seat of Drysdale from his defeat of sitting Labor member Chris Natt at the 2008 ...
regained the seat for the CLP on a large swing, but lost his preselection in 2012 and contested the election as an independent candidate. He was defeated by the CLP's endorsed candidate,
Lia Finocchiaro
Lia Emele Finocchiaro (; born 20 September 1984) is an Australian politician. She has been a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for the seat of Spillett since her election in 2016. She became Leader of ...
.
After a redistribution transferred much of Finocchiaro's base to the new seat of
Spillett, Finocchiaro opted to transfer to Spillett even though Drysdale was still a safe CLP seat on paper. However, at the
2016 election, the CLP's primary vote plunged by over 20 percent amid the party's near-total meltdown in Palmerston.
Eva Lawler
Eva Dina Lawler is an Australian politician. She is a Labor member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016, representing the electorate of Drysdale. She was Minister for Education in the Gunner Ministry from September 2016 u ...
took the seat for Labor on a large swing, becoming only the second Labor member ever to win it. She then increased her majority at the
2020 election, becoming the first Labor MLA to retain a Palmerston seat.
Members for Drysdale
Election results
References
External links
Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
{{coord, -12.485085, 130.973005, display=title
Drysdale