NT by-election as ALP's Vatskalis retires
The Northern Territory will face its second by-election this year following the retirement of long-standing Labor politician Kon Vatskalis.
The member for Casuarina on Tuesday announced he would be leaving his 13-year political career at the end of August's parliamentary sittings in order "to devote more energy to his family".
He was a serving minister for the full 11 years of the Clare Martin and Paul Henderson governments, and held 11 portfolios, including those of Lands, Planning and Environment, Housing, Transport, Infrastructure, Mines and Energy, and Health.
"Kon was an excellent minister who is credited with upgrading the accident and emergency departments of both Darwin and Alice Springs Hospitals, as well as being the driving force behind the Territory having a stand-alone child protection agency," Labor Opposition Leader Delia Lawrie said in a statement on Tuesday.
"In his Mines and Energy role he was also responsible for much of the Asian investment which the Territory enjoyed in the early part of this century."
She said the upcoming by-election in the urban Darwin electorate would be an opportunity for residents to send a message to the Country Liberals government about the cost of living and "the unacceptable cuts" to education, child protection and health.
Chief Minister Adam Giles said he and Mr Vatskalis "didn't always see eye to eye" but acknowledged he had made a significant contribution to public life.
Launching straight into campaign mode, he blamed Ms Lawrie's "desperate and delusional" leadership for Mr Vatskalis' departure.
"I urge Casuarina residents to look beyond Kon Vatskalis' personal record and remember the financial mismanagement left behind by Delia Lawrie when she was in government," he said.
Winning the safe Labor seat would be a tough ask for the CLP, he admitted.
An April by-election for the safe CLP seat of Blain in Darwin's satellite city of Palmerston saw a 10 per cent swing in Labor's favour, in part due to public unhappiness with the treatment of former chief minister Terry Mills, who held the seat since it was created in 1999 and was dumped from the top job last March, only seven months after winning back government for the CLP.
The party won the election with 16 seats in the 25-seat Legislative Assembly but currently only holds 13, following the April walk-out of Aboriginal backbenchers Alison Anderson, Larisa Lee and Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu, who accused the government of racism and breaking promises to remote communities.
They are now the first three members of the Palmer United Party to sit in the NT.
A by-election date cannot be set until Mr Vatskalis vacates his seat and tenders his letter of resignation at the end of August.
