Nightcliff By-election 2026

Nightcliff derives its name from a mention in the log of the HMS Beagle's visit to Port Darwin in 1839. It describes some of the ship's crew members scrambling up the cliffs in the area at night. The term 'Night Cliff' later appeared in Surveyor-General George Goyder's original plan for Port Darwin in 1869.

It is one of the Territory's original districts and has been contested at every election since 1974. Independent Dawn Lawrie was the first to hold the seat until her defeat in 1983. Lawrie is the mother of former deputy chief minister, Treasurer and Labor leader Delia Lawrie.

Nightcliff was won in 1983 by the CLP's Steve Hatton, who held the seat until his retirement in 2001. Hatton spent two years as chief minister, replacing Ian Tuxworth in 1986, but replaced by Marshall Perron in 1988. His son attempted to succeed him in 2001 but was defeated by Labor's Jane Aagaard.

Aagaard won Nightcliff with a swing of 11.7 per cent in 2001, and doubled her majority in 2005. She was comfortably re-elected in 2008 despite a 5 per cent swing against her, and retired at the 2012 election.

Labor fought back an independent challenge in 2012 from environmentalist Stuart Blanch who polled 18.5 per cent, but Labor's Natasha Fyles retained Nightcliff with only a 1.5 per cent swing against her. After four years of chaotic CLP government, Fyles was easily re-elected in 2016 with a 17.8 per cent swing in her favour.

She was re-elected again in 2020 with a margin of 24.3 per cent, making it the safest seat in the NT, and Fyles succeeded Michael Gunner as chief minister in May 2022 but was forced to stand down at the end of 2023 over her failure to disclose share holdings.

Despite her massIve margin, Fyles was defeated in the 2024 election. The Greens candidate Kat McNamara came third on first preferences with 22 per cent. The CLP recommended voters preference Fyles, but many voters ignored that, with Labor receiving just 52 per cent of CLP preferences. McNamara won the seat by just 36 votes after the full distribution of preferences.

McNamara is a mother-of-three and former telecommunications rigger who decided to run for politics after finishing a bachelor in environmental science. McNamara's middle name is 'Danger'.

They were the first Green elected in the Northern Territory parliament, and used the position to champion environmental and integrity issues, In February 2026 they announced their resignation from parliament due to "ongoing health challenges".

(Victories by the party that formed government are underlined)

Ed Smelt

Labor Party

Smelt is an elected councillor with the City of Darwin, representing Chan Ward since 2021. He is also a civil engineer with the NT public service and moved to Darwin from Victoria in 2019.

Suki Dorras-Walker

The Greens

Dorras-Walker has worked as a public school teacher for ten years and is now studying law. She was the runner up in the seat of Fannie Bay in the 2024 NT election, falling just 37 votes behind the CLP after preferences.

Anjan Paudel

Country Liberal Party

Paudel is an early-career solicitor working in commercial and litigation practice, across banking and finance, debt recovery, workers compensation and civil disputes. He is also the AI lead for his law firms Darwin office. He holds a law degree from Charles Darwin University, graduating in 2025. He is a Nepalese-Australian who migrated from Nepal to Darwin 10 years ago and became an Australian citizen in 2022.

Phil Scott

Independent

Scott is an operations manager with a mental health services organisation. He was previously involved in the Frack Free NT and Lock the Gate movement as a community organiser, campaigning against fracking and gas pipelines. Before moving to Darwin he worked in local government with the City of Parramatta, in Sydney. He holds degrees in human movement and psychology from Charles Sturt University. He was a candidate for the federal seat of Solomon in the 2025 federal election, polling 12.5 per cent.

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