Kurrupuwu rejoins Country Liberal Party
An Aboriginal backbencher who walked out on the Northern Territory government amid claims of racism and broken promises to the bush has rejoined the Country Liberal Party (CLP).
Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu, the Member for Arafura, tendered his resignation to the Palmer United Party on Monday afternoon and then wrote to the CLP, seeking to be reinstated as a member.
Chief Minister Adam Giles said he was "thrilled" with Mr Kurrupuwu's return, which comes as the government faces losing a fourth seat this year.
Mr Kurrupuwu was one of three members of the bush bloc, along with fellow backbenchers Alison Anderson and Larisa Lee, who left the CLP earlier this year, claiming the government had failed to deliver on election promises to their remote communities of the Tiwi Islands, Central Australia and the Arnhem region respectively.
Although Mr Giles was scathing of Ms Anderson and Ms Lee's motives, he maintained that the door was open for Mr Kurrupuwu to return, implying he had gotten in over his head.
With the loss of the three, the government dropped from 16 seats in the 35-seat Legislative Assembly to 13, and for a time teetered on the brink of minority government when former CLP chief minister Terry Mills retired.
Last week the NT government elected a new deputy chief minister after incumbent and treasurer Dave Tollner was forced to resign when homophobic remarks he made to a gay staffer were made public. Mr Tollner seemed to threaten he would leave the party if not reinstated and is currently on two weeks' leave.
One of Mr Kurrupuwu's grievances against the CLP was that Mr Tollner had called him Frankie and diminished him, which was an insult for a senior Tiwi elder.
He has been sitting as a PUP member since April.
"The government recently received word that Mr Kurrupuwu was unhappy with the lack of support he was receiving and that he was interested in re-joining the Country Liberals," Mr Giles said in a statement on Monday night.
"Mr Kurrupuwu says he received strong support from constituents in his electorate for him to return to the government.
"No offers, inducements or incentives were made to Mr Kurrupuwu in exchange for his return. He came to us."
Mr Kurrupuwu could not be reached for comment.
