Goyder – NT 2016

CLP 16.0%

Incumbent MP
Kezia Purick (independent), since 2008.

Geography
Regional areas in north-western Northern Territory. Goyder covers rural areas to the east of Darwin, including Bees Creek and Humpty Doo.

Redistribution
Goyder expanded to take in a larger area to the east of Darwin from the neighbouring seat of Daly. These changes cut the CLP margin from 16.7% to 16%.

History
The electorate of Goyder has existed since 1990. In that time, the Country Liberal Party has won the seat at all but one election.

The CLP’s Terry McCarthy won Goyder in 1990. McCarthy had held the seat of Victoria River since 1983. He saw off a challenge from the Nationals’ Ian Tuxworth, a former CLP leader who had held Barkly since 1974.

McCarthy held Goyder until his retirement in 2001, when he was succeeded by Peter Maley.

Maley was kicked out of the Country Liberal Party shortly before the 2005 election, and retired. The seat was won by Labor’s Ted Warren as part of Labor’s landslid victory.

Warren only lasted one term, losing in 2008 to the CLP’s Kezia Purick.

Purick served as a shadow minister in her first term. After the 2012 election, she was dropped from the frontbench and elected as Speaker. She resigned from the CLP in 2015, and after that was able to resist an attempt to remove her as Speaker.

Candidates

• Kezia Purick (Independent)
• Carolyn Reynolds (Country Liberal)
• Billee McGinley (Greens)
• Mick Taylor (Labor)
• Peter Flynn (Citizens Electoral Council)

Assessment
In normal circumstances, the Country Liberal Party would be expected to easily retain Goyder. This seat should be a contest between the ex-CLP independent MP and the CLP challenger. Purick should benefit from a personal vote, and a decline in the CLP vote.

2012 result

2012 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown
There are two booths in Goyder: Bees Creek and Humpty Doo.

The CLP’s two-party-preferred vote ranged from 63.5% in Humpty Doo to about 70.5% in both the pre-poll vote and Bees Creek.