Electoral division of Port Darwin

Port Darwin Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Interactive map of boundaries as of the 2024 election
Territory	Northern Territory
Created	1974
MP	Robyn Cahill
Party	Country Liberal
Namesake	Port of Darwin
Electors	5,699 (2020)
Area	5 km2 (1.9 sq mi)
Demographic	Urban
Electorates around Port Darwin: Timor Sea Fannie Bay Fong Lim Timor Sea Port Darwin Darwin Harbour Timor Sea Darwin Harbour Darwin Harbour

Port Darwin is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was first created in 1974. It is an entirely urban electorate, covering only 5 km² and taking in the Darwin central business district, as well as the suburb of Larrakeyah and part of Stuart Park. There were 5,699 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2020.

Unlike most state and territory electorates based on CBDs, Port Darwin historically tilted conservative. For most of the first four decades of its existence, Port Darwin was a safe seat for the Country Liberal Party. While it was one of only two seats the party did not hold in the first parliament from 1974 to 1977, the CLP easily took the seat at the Territory's second election and held it without serious difficulty for over a quarter century. It was widely considered as CLP heartland, and was their safest seat in Darwin for many years.

The strength of the CLP vote in the seat was seen at the 2000 by-election caused by the resignation of controversial former Chief Minister Shane Stone. While the by-election was called at a very bad time for the CLP, Sue Carter managed to easily fend off any challenge in the seat.

Carter retained her seat even as Territory Labor won its first victory at the 2001 election. She was the only CLP member west of Palmerston, and the only one in the capital. As a result, there were very few signs in the lead-up to the 2005 election that she was in danger, with most commentators expecting her to win another term. However, on election day, there was a surprise significant and unprecedented swing to the ALP across the Territory. Though the result was so close that it was not known for several days after the election, Carter was ultimately defeated by Labor opponent Kerry Sacilotto by 73 votes. Sacilotto actually won just enough primary votes to take the seat without the need for preferences. She held the seat for only one term, until when John Elferink regained the seat for the CLP at the 2008 election.

Elferink seemingly consolidated his hold on the seat in 2012. However, he retired ahead of the 2016 election. At that election, the CLP lost over 12.9 percent of its primary vote amid its collapse in the Darwin/Palmerston area, allowing Paul Kirby to become only the second Labor member to win it. Kirby successfully retained the seat four years later. He retired in 2024, and Robyn Cahill easily reclaimed the seat for the CLP on a swing large enough to make it a safe CLP seat in one stroke.

Members for Port Darwin

Member		Party	Term
	Ron Withnall	Independent	1974–1977
	Tom Harris	Country Liberal	1977–1990
	Shane Stone	Country Liberal	1990–2000
	Sue Carter	Country Liberal	2000–2005
	Kerry Sacilotto	Labor	2005–2008
	John Elferink	Country Liberal	2008–2016
	Paul Kirby	Labor	2016–2024
	Robyn Cahill	Country Liberal	2024–present

Election results

See also: Electoral results for the division of Port Darwin

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Northern Territory general election § Port Darwin.[edit]

Results as of 2:30 UTC, 5 September

2024 Northern Territory general election: Port Darwin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Country Liberal	Robyn Cahill	2,135	52.1	+14.4
	Labor	Brian Manning	970	23.9	−13.8
	Greens	Greg Dickson	676	16.5	+9.2
	Independent	Leah Potter	231	5.7	+0.9
	Independent	Janey Davies	83	2.0	+2.0
Total formal votes			4,095	97.2	−0.3
Informal votes			120	2.8	+0.3
Turnout			4,215	73.6
Two-party-preferred result
	Country Liberal	Robyn Cahill	2,527	61.7	+13.6
	Labor	Brian Manning	1,568	38.3	−13.6
	Country Liberal gain from Labor		Swing	+13.6

External links

• Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission