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Northern Territory voters are heading to the ballot boxes today to decide on their next government in what is looking to be a tight race.
Thousands have already had their say as Opposition Country Liberals leader Lia Finocchiaro takes on Labor Chief Minister Eva Lawler for the top job.
Both parties have the territory’s crime rates at the heart of their campaign, with each leader promising to tackle the surge.
Lawler has promoted her snap curfews on Alice Springs as part of her “tough love” stance on crime while Finocchiaro claimed the chief only has “bandaid solutions”.
According to the NT Treasury’s assessment of each party’s pre-election commitments, Labor’s measures are set to balloon net debt to $220 million by 2027-28.
The Country Liberals are set to grow debt to $96 million in the same time.
Labor has held government in the territory for eight years, starting with Michael Gunner, who quit after the pandemic.
His successor, Natasha Fyles, resigned in December last year after just 18 months in the role when it was revealed she had undisclosed shares in a mining company.
Lawler, a former school principal turned Drysdale MP, then took helm of the party.
The Country Liberals are campaigning that “it’s time” for a change to convince voters to swing their way.
The party formerly held power for a nation-leading 23 years from the territory’s self-governance in 1978 until 2001, when they were voted out.
They returned to government in mid-2012 before being voted out in mid-2016 in a sensational defeat that saw the party reduced to just two seats.
The party has since clawed its way back and gained momentum this election, which Finocchiaro has lauded as a “turning point” for the territory.
Votes will be counted from 6.30 tonight.
