Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The case for guaranteeing a minimum of two seats for the Northern Territory in this House is pretty simple. As in all electorates around our country, the population of the NT's seats moves around and fluctuates a bit—particularly when those opposite send our troops down to the south or cut a quarter of our Commonwealth public servants, for example. However, what makes the Territory unique is its massive size, and its unique demography which includes 30 per cent Aboriginal Territorians.

It's outrageous that, if the Prime Minister doesn't act when the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Ensuring Fair Representation of the Northern Territory) Bill 2020 comes over from the Senate to this House, we may have one member in this place representing 250,000 Territorians. We are simply asking for what we've got at the moment: two members in this House, amongst the 150, representing those Territorians.

Senator Mathias Cormann hasn't given us much faith, but the good people of Darwin and Palmerston know and know well, from bitter experience, that if we don't assert our rights here and if we allow the government to send things off to a committee and not support Territorians, we won't get what we rightly deserve.