Labor Retains Stuart With Solid Victory

Member for Lingiari and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Australia and Indigenous Affairs Warren Snowdon today congratulated Karl Hampton on retaining the seat of Stuart for the Labor Party

Mr Snowdon said Mr Hampton had worked hard and he gave the voters a good, straight message.

'Being straight with the electorate obviously paid off,' Mr Snowdon said.

'Labor has added fresh talent to the backbench and I'm personally very proud that we now have six Aboriginal Members in the Assembly.

'The CLP was banking on a significant drop in Labor's vote and hoped to coast into power with two candidates and swag of preferences from the independents.

'Clearly they believed that the electorate would fall for this political three-card trick.

'Labor's vote was probably more affected by a solid performance from the independent Gary Cartwright.

'And there is a strong message for Labor in this.

'Despite a solid victory, we can't take the bush for granted and we have to continue to work hard in all electorates.

'The CLP has paid the price for taking the voters for granted: its primary vote dropped by almost 10 per cent,' Mr Snowdon said.

2006-09-24