There was a considerable turnout for the panel discussion Troublemakers, Trailblazers and Territory Politics, highlighting the interest in Independent politicians in the Northern Territory. Unfortunately, Dawn Lawrie, the first true Independent in the NT parliament was unable to attend due to illness, but the remaining members of the panel, Dr Robyn Smith, Gerry Wood and Justine Davis MLA, had a wide-ranging discussion, facilitated by Dr Richard Fejo, that both informed and entertained those who were present. 

Dr Robyn Smith began the evening by giving a broad context to the discussion, highlighting that in the years between 2005-2024 there have been in total 127 Independent candidates contest NT elections. She made the point though, that in the history of the NT Assembly there have really only been 5 Community Independents (CI) stand. Of these, all were successfully elected. A further 18 candidates secured their election as the representative of a party and during their term resigned from the party and sat as an Independent.

A common theme that was evident in the discussion was the close relationship between a CI and their community. Both Gerry and Justine stressed the importance of making connections with, and listening closely to the diversity of views within their community. They both talked of being accessible to people in a ‘real way’, which means creating opportunities for constituents to chat face to face. This, they felt, gave the mandate that they needed to stress in parliament that they were speaking for their community. In Justine’s words, ‘the mandate comes from showing people you are there with them.’ Both also had a similar vision for how parliament could operate, one that was not so divided on Party lines.

Gerry spoke of his visit to Canada and the time he spent with the Nunavut parliament, which is a consensus government made up entirely of people, none of whom represent a party, they are all Independent. The parliament elects the cabinet and the equivalent of our Chief Minister. He had the opportunity to observe this parliament in action over several days. What he observed was a different way of doing politics, where people could have their differences in a way that was polite and respectful and where debate drew people to consensus on a common ground. What Gerry described as ‘informed agreement’. Justine observed that this was what she had seen in action during the recent debate around the VAD Bill in the NT parliament, which showed that this is possible in our context, although not the way that our parliament chooses to function. ‘Robust disagreement doesn’t mean you abuse people’, was her observation of this more respectful moment in the NT parliament. 

The discussion ended with the panel describing their hopes for the future of the NT parliament. This included ideas such as a truly independent speaker, a scrutiny committee that isn’t controlled by the government of the day and debate that ensures that the best possible laws are made for all Territorians. The evening ended with a call to action of those in the room, to support their Independent candidates and representatives through both actions and words.

This review was prepared by VoTE volunteer, Elsabe Bott, following the Troublemakers and Trailblazers panel event.

A recording of the event is available here Voices of the Top End NT - YouTube