Nathan Barrett (born 4 February 1976) is a former Australian politician who represented the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method fo ...
seat of
Blain from 2014 to 2016.
Background and early career
Barrett was born in
Darwin, and has lived in
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 ...
for over twenty years. He was a port worker and teacher before entering politics.
Political career
Barrett was elected at a
by-election held on 12 April 2014 as a member of the governing
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 ...
. The vacancy was caused by the resignation of former
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Terry Mills. Although Blain, like most seats in the Palmerston area, had historically been CLP heartland, the by-election came at a difficult time for the CLP government. A week after the writ was issued, three indigenous CLP MPs defected to the
crossbench
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...
. Had Barrett lost, the CLP would have been forced into a
minority government
A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
. Ultimately, Barrett won, though the CLP suffered a swing of over 10 percent.
In February 2016, Barrett was promoted to
Cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
as Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Young Territorians, and Minister Assisting the Treasurer.
He was slated to become Treasurer after the 2016 estimates hearings. However, on 10 June, when ''
Northern Territory News
The ''Northern Territory News'' (also known and branded as the ''NT News'') is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published every week from Monday to Saturday. It prim ...
'' reported that he had sent a video of himself
masturbating
Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combination ...
to a constituent with whom he had been having an affair, Barrett resigned from Cabinet.
On 12 June, under growing pressure from the CLP's organisational wing, he announced that he would not contest
the upcoming election.
He then resigned from the CLP on 28 June 2016, and served out the rest of his term as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
. In a speech announcing his move to the crossbench, he accused his political enemies of resorting to a base attack to bring him down.
At that election, Blain was won by Barrett's predecessor, Mills, who ran as an independent.
See also
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Nathan
1976 births
Living people
Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Independent members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Australian schoolteachers
21st-century Australian politicians