Johnston 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 Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
. It was first created in 2001, replacing the abolished seat of
Jingili, and is named after Commodore
Eric Johnston, a former
Administrator of the Northern Territory
The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the Governor-General of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state gov ...
. Johnston is an urban electorate, covering only 5 km² and taking in the
Darwin suburbs of
Jingili,
Moil,
Wagaman and part of
Alawa. There were 5,556 people enrolled within the electorate as of August 2020.
Johnston was essentially a reconfigured version of one of the original electorates in the Northern Territory, Jingili, which had been held by 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 ...
for its entire existence and was the seat of the Territory's second head of government,
Paul Everingham
Paul Anthony Edward Everingham (born 4 February 1943) is a former Australian politician who was the head of government of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1977 to 1984, serving as the second and last Majority Leader (1977–1978) and ...
. At the 2001 election, however, the CLP member for Jingili,
Steve Balch, was defeated by
Labor Party challenger Dr
Chris Burns. Burns' victory was part of an unexpected Labor wave that swept through northern Darwin, allowing Labor to win government in the Territory for the first time. The area's CLP voting history led many commentators to suggest that it was likely to revert to the CLP at the
2005 election. As it turned out, Burns was re-elected easily amid that year's Labor landslide with a substantially increased majority, though the margin didn't blow out as much as in nearby seats. Burns retired at the 2012 election, and the seat was retained for Labor by former cricketer
Ken Vowles
Kenneth Edward Vowles (born 29 September 1971) is an Australian politician and former cricketer from the Northern Territory. He was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2012 until 2020, representing the electorate of Joh ...
with only a small swing against Labor. Vowles consolidated his hold on the seat amid Labor's massive landslide in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
. In 2018, Vowles was expelled from the Labor cabinet, and resigned on 31 January 2020, with the resulting vacancy filled at a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
on 29 February 2020.
Members for Johnston
Election results
References
External links
Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
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Johnston