Term as Chief Minister Clare Martin

1 term chief minister

1.1 aboriginal issues
1.2 achievements
1.3 resignation

term chief minister

martin faced first electoral test leader @ 2001 election. @ time, country liberal party had held office 27 years, , labor had never come particularly close government. indeed, had never managed win more 9 seats @ election. however, alp coming off particularly successful eighteen months, , martin ran skilled campaign. able take advantage of number of gaffes made then-chief minister denis burke, such decision preference 1 nation on alp – lost clp number of votes in crucial darwin seats. election came during bad time federal coalition government, under fire introducing gst after vowing not so.

despite this, commentators predicting clp returned ninth term in government, albeit reduced majority. however, in shock result, labor scored eight-seat swing, achieving majority government 1 seat. did on strength of unexpected labor wave in darwin. labor had gone election holding 2 seats in capital—those of martin , paul henderson—and had never held more 2 seats in darwin @ time. in 2001 election, however, labor took 1 seat in darwin, including 7 seats in northern part of city. darwin s northern suburbs more diverse rest of city. in process, ousted 4 sitting mlas; labor had not unseated clp incumbent since 1980. although clp won bare majority of two-party vote, labor s gains in darwin enough make martin first alp , first female chief minister in history of northern territory. martin herself reelected healthy swing of 9.2 percent in fannie bay, turning safe labor seat in 1 stroke.

as chief minister, martin set making changes, repealing territory s controversial mandatory sentencing laws, , introducing freedom of information legislation, had been neglected during clp s 27-year rule.

aboriginal issues

although martin appointed aboriginal territorians cabinet, has been criticised not improving lot of aboriginal constituents, majority of whom have life expectancy below of white australians. respected commentator in bulletin suggested had gone slow on aboriginal issues because feared white backlash have resulted in government being toppled.

the life expectancy of northern territory s aboriginal citizens did not increase markedly during martin s administration. alcohol abuse continued major issue in aboriginal communities , third-world diseases trachoma seen in remote aboriginal townships. however, in 2006, martin rejected accusations john howard , federal indigenous affairs minister, mal brough, government had been underfunding aboriginal communities. summit between federal , territory governments proposed mal brough in may 2006, snubbed martin.

martin critical of federal government s intervention in aboriginal communities announced in 2007. opposed aspects of intervention such removal of permit system. in response, federal government rejected territory s argument, saying essential remove artificial barriers aboriginal townships prevent measures needed improve living conditions indigenous children

achievements

in longer term, oversaw completion of adelaide-darwin railway, had begun under burke government, , vowed resurrect stalled statehood movement. managed markedly boost alp s standing amongst electorate, seen in 2003 katherine by-election, saw major swing party.

by 2005, northern territory, under martin s leadership, had achieved following:

the highest economic growth in australia @ 7.2 per cent
the lowest small business taxes
record population growth
the highest building approval rates
surging house prices , record levels of home ownership.
property crime halved
approval $1 billion development of darwin wharf precinct

as chief minister, martin led alp 2005 election, first incumbent government in territory. martin campaigned largely on law , order issues. predicted alp win relatively narrow victory. however, in result had not been predicted commentators or optimistic labor observers, martin led alp smashing victory. final result gave 19 seats alp, 4 opposition clp , 2 independents. alp won 6 seats clp, 4 of had never won before in election. 2 of them in palmerston, area labor had not come close winning. in unexpected victory of all, alp managed unseat opposition leader , former chief minister, burke, in own palmerston-area electorate. labor won second-largest majority government in history of territory, bettered clp s near-sweep of legislative assembly @ first elections, in 1974.

on 10 september 2007, queensland premier peter beattie announced leave politics week. left martin labor s longest-serving current state or territory leader, , longest-serving state or territory head of government in australia, until herself announced resignation on 26 november 2007.

resignation

on 26 november 2007, clare martin , deputy syd stirling announced resignations @ media conference in darwin. northern territory education minister paul henderson elected new leader , chief minister alp caucus.