Final results in the Northern Territory election have shown an overwhelming victory for the Country Liberal Party, breaking Labor's stronghold on mainland Australia.
Lia Finocchiaro’s conservative party won 17 of the 25 seats, while Labor has been reduced to four seats after the August 24 poll.
The CLP claimed a primary vote of 48.9 per cent, compared to the ALP’s 28.8 per cent, while independents and the Greens secured the remaining four seats, final results released on Monday show.
Ms Finocchiaro is due to announce her cabinet in the coming days before parliament sits in October.
The chief minister received a whopping 79.6 per cent of the primary vote in her seat of Spillet, while former Labor chief minister Eva Lawler received just 35 per cent in Drysdale, failing to keep her place in parliament.
Labor only retained the electorates of Arnhem, Arafura, Daly and Gwoja, all represented by First Nations members, making it an entirely Indigenous opposition.
Sitting on the cross bench will be three independents and the Territory’s first Greens member.
NT's unicameral parliament means the CLP has an overwhelming majority to pass legislation almost uncontested.
Labor was unable to retain any seats in Darwin or Palmerston, and also lost the political experience of senior party leaders Ms Lawler and Natasha Fyles.
The Greens claimed their first seat in Territory history after a three-way count put Kat McNamara ahead of Ms Fyles in the seat of Nightcliff by 36 votes.
In the neighbouring seat of Fannie Bay, Greens candidate Suki Dorras-Walker lost by 37 votes to the CLP's Laurie Zio.
Despite compulsory voting, turnout was significantly lower than in the 2020 election, with only 68 per cent of Territorians returning a ballot.
In some regional areas where Labor won seats, turnout was as low as 32 per cent, with some experts concerned First Nations voters had disengaged following the voice referendum result in 2023.
NT Electoral Commissioner Kirsten Kelly said the commission would reach out to remote communities to inform them of the result.
"We have seen a decline in voter participation across all electoral divisions, and we'll continue to work with remote communities to increase participation in the future," she said.
"We ran a 19-week engagement education program that started in April this year to raise awareness of the election, talk about voting, why it's important to vote, and we'll be assessing that program, evaluating that."
Traditionally the Northern Territory has the lowest participation rates in the nation, and provisions within the NT Electoral Act mean people in remote communities are often not penalised for not voting.
"We’ll now look at the the non-voter infringement process ... to issue infringement notices in the coming weeks and months," Ms Kelly said.
Tasmania is the only other state or territory not held by Labor, with the Liberal Party retaining government at the 2024 election.
