November 30, 2023
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy has delivered her maiden speech as an ALP representative from the Northern Territory.
McCarthy is the second indigenous woman to be elected to the Senate. She succeeds the first, Nova Peris, who served one term following the 2013 federal election. McCarthy is joined by the first indigenous woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, Linda Burney, the ALP member for Barton.
There will be 14 new faces in the new Senate when it meets for the first time on August 30.
This represents 18.42% of the Senate’s 76 members. Each state has 12 senators, whilst the territories have 2 each, who serve terms concurrent with the House of Representatives. The double dissolution meant that all 76 positions were up for election on July 2.
The fourteen new senators include two (Louise Pratt and Don Farrell) who were Labor senators defeated in 2013.
Ten of the fourteen departed senators were defeated in the election, whilst four retired.
The Senate result in the Northern Territory has been announced by the Australian Electoral Commission.
As is always the case, the ALP has won one of the two available seats and the Country Liberals (CLP) the other. Under proportional representation, the NT and the ACT always produces a 1-all result.
The ALP received 37.44% of the primary vote, more than a full quota. Its new senator will be an indigenous woman, Malarndirri McCarthy. She replaces Nova Peris, who served just one term.
The CLP received 36.42% of the primary vote, a quota in its own right, re-electing Nigel Scullion to a sixth term. He was first elected in 2001. Scullion sits with The Nationals in Canberra and is their leader in the Senate. He is also Minister for Indigenous Affairs in the Turnbull government.