Electoral division of Katherine

Katherine is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. The electorate was first created in 1987, replacing the abolished Elsey seat, and derives its name from the Katherine River. Katherine encompasses both urban and rural areas, covering an area of 6,745 km² and taking in the city of Katherine, as well as the Binjari Aboriginal Community.

Katherine
Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Katherine in the Northern Territory
TerritoryNorthern Territory
Created1987
MPJo Hersey
PartyCountry Liberals
NamesakeKatherine River
Electors5,749 (2020)
Area6,745 km2 (2,604.3 sq mi)
DemographicUrban
Electorates around Katherine:
Daly Arnhem Arnhem
Daly Katherine Arnhem
Daly Arnhem Arnhem

History

The city of Katherine has historically been a conservative bastion, making the seat of the same name a very safe Country Liberal Party seat for most of its first three decades. Its first member, Mike Reed, was Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 1995 to 2001. Reed retired in 2003 and was succeeded at a by-election by Fay Miller, who survived a large swing to Labor to retain the seat for the CLP. Miller narrowly held onto her seat in Labor's landslide victory at the 2005 election, weathering another massive swing to Labor that surprised commentators on election night. In the end, however, Miller was left as one of only two CLP MLAs in the Top End. She retired at the 2008 election and was succeeded by Willem Westra van Holthe, who picked up a swing large enough to revert Katherine to its traditional status as a safe CLP seat. The 2012 election saw Westra van Holthe seemingly consolidate his grip on Katherine when he boosted his majority to 22.3 percent, making it the safest seat in the Territory.

At the 2016 election, Westra van Holthe suffered a swing just barely exceeding the one he had picked up in 2012, and narrowly lost the seat to Labor's Sandra Nelson after a shock victory in the seat. It was the first time that Labor had won a Katherine-based seat. Nelson retired at the 2020 election and the seat was won by the CLP's Jo Hersey.

Members for Katherine
MemberPartyTerm
  Mike Reed Country Liberal 1987–2003
  Fay Miller Country Liberal 2003–2008
  Willem Westra van Holthe Country Liberal 2008–2016
  Sandra Nelson Labor 2016–2020
  Jo Hersey Country Liberal 2020–present

Election results
See also: Electoral results for the division of Katherine
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2020 Northern Territory general election § Katherine.[edit]
2020 Northern Territory general election: Katherine[1][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Kate Ganley 1,281 33.0 +2.1
Country Liberal Jo Hersey 1,264 32.5 −1.7
Territory Alliance Melanie Usher 1,132 29.1 +29.1
Independent Clinton Booth 209 5.4 +5.4
Total formal votes 3,886 96.3 N/A
Informal votes 151 3.7 N/A
Turnout 4,037 70.2 N/A
Two-party-preferred result
Country Liberal Jo Hersey 2,041 52.5 +4.1
Labor Kate Ganley 1,845 47.5 −4.1
Country Liberal gain from Labor Swing+4.1

References
  1. "Electorate summary: Katherine". NTEC. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  2. "Katherine". ABC Elections. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 September 2020.

14°28′0″S 132°16′0″E

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