2007 Greatorex by-election

2007 Greatorex by-election

28 July 2007

First party Second party Third party   IND Candidate Matt Conlan Paul Herrick Jo Nixon Party Country Liberal Independent Labor Popular vote 1,764 670 541 Percentage 53.6% 20.4% 16.4% Swing 5.1 20.4 24.4 TCP 57.8% 42.3% TCP swing 6.4 42.3

MP before election Richard Lim Country Liberal Elected MP Matt Conlan Country Liberal

The 2007 Greatorex by-election was a by-election held on 28 July 2007 for the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly electorate of Greatorex in Alice Springs.^[1]

The by-election was triggered when Dr Richard Lim, the Country Liberal Party member for Greatorex, resigned from politics on 9 July 2007. Lim had held the seat since 1994, and had served as Deputy Opposition Leader under former CLP leader Denis Burke.^[2] Greatorex is generally considered a safe seat for the CLP, and Lim, a popular local member, had managed to retain the seat at the 2005 election despite both a huge territory-wide loss which saw Burke lose his seat and the presence of a Labor star candidate in high-profile Alice Springs mayor Fran Kilgariff.^[3] Lim stated that he was resigning in order to care for his ailing wife and parents, and was considering returning to his medical practice. He apologised for retiring mid-term, an act he had previously criticised former Attorney-General Peter Toyne for doing in 2006.^[4]

The by-election saw CLP candidate Matt Conlan elected on primary votes alone, polling 52% of the vote, a small increase on the 2005 election. Independent candidate Paul Herrick finished second with 20%, just ahead of Labor candidate Jo Nixon on 16%. Greens candidate Jane Clark finished fourth with 9% of the vote.

There were 4564 people enrolled within the electorate at the close of the rolls for the by-election on 13 July.^[5]