Drysdale – NT 2020

ALP 5.2%

Incumbent MP
Eva Lawler, since 2016.

Geography
Palmerston. Drysdale covers western parts of the city of Palmerston, to the east of Darwin. Drysdale covers the suburbs of Moulden, Yarrawonga, Gray and part of Farrar, along with the Palmerston golf course.

Redistribution
Drysdale underwent a slight change, losing Yarrawonga to Spillett.

History
The electorate of Drysdale has existed since 1997. In that time, the Country Liberal Party has won the seat at all but two elections, and only one MP has managed to win re-election.

The CLP’s Stephen Dunham won Drysdale, and held the seat for two terms. Drysdale was considered to be very safe before the 2005 election, when Dunham lost in a shock result to Labor’s Chris Natt.

Natt only held Drysdale for one term, losing the seat in 2008 to the CLP’s Ross Bohlin.

Bohlin himself only lasted for one term. He lost preselection in the lead up to the 2012 election, and ran for the seat unsuccessfully as an independent, losing to the CLP’s Lia Finocchiaro.

Finocchiaro ran for the new seat of Spillett in 2016, and Labor’s Eva Lawler won Drysdale with a swing of 16.6%.

Candidates

• Danielle Eveleigh (Independent)
• Eva Lawler (Labor)
• Fiona Lynch (Territory Alliance)
• Lash Lisson (Ban Fracking Fix Crime Protect Water)
• Leanne Butler (Country Liberal)
• Raj Samson Rajwin (Independent)
• Brendan Killalea (Independent)

Assessment
Drysdale is not a typical Labor seat. If Labor holds on here they are likely to be in a strong position.

2016 result

2016 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown
There were four booths in Drysdale in 2016: Gray, Driver, Moulden Park and Woodroffe.

Labor won a majority in every area, ranging from 52.2% in Woodroffe to 56.7% in the pre-poll, which was the largest single source of votes.