Coup: All Central Australian members voted for Adam Giles

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By ERWIN CHLANDA
 
A reliable source says all Central Australian Members of Parliament voted for Adam Giles in his coup to become Chief Minister.
This means he had the support of Alison Anderson, Bess Price, Matt Conlan and Robyn Lambley. And the Parliamentary wing vote was 13 for Mr Giles, three for Terry Mills.
Meanwhile Alice Springs Country Liberal Party chairman, Daniel Davis (pictured) says: “It’s a really good day for us down here” to have a Chief Minister from Central Australia.
“It’s a surprise but hopefully we can now get on with governing.”
He says he doesn’t know how the Central Australian members voted: “I don’t get involved in the political wing.”
Mr Davis says it’s not a surprise: “Adam Giles has made it public that he had an interest in the job: “There has been unrest and I hope they will now all get together and work as a team.”
He did not comment on what the branch thought of ousted Chief Minister Terry Mills: “I don’t want to comment on people’s opinions. We backed him as the leader in the last election.”
The issue of leadership is a matter for the political wing, he says.

Meanhwile Shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister and Country Liberals Senator for the Northern Territory Nigel Scullion has welcomed Adam Giles’s appointment as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.
He said in a media release: “He is not only the first Indigenous Chief Minister of the Northern Territory but the first Indigenous Head of Government in this country. This is an historic move by the Country Liberals and Aboriginal people all over Australia can rightly feel proud on this day.
“I congratulate Terry Mills for leading the Country Liberals back into Government and winning a huge mandate from Aboriginal people in the Territory for a conservative Government. The change to Mr Giles is a consequence of a search for stability and now the focus can be on the delivery of services to Territorians.
“Mr Giles has the skills and acumen of an accomplished leader. The Country Liberals can get back to rectifying the damage done by a decade of Labor Government,” Senator Scullion said.

12 COMMENTS

  1. Messy process, but a good result for Alice Springs. Now for some stability and good government.

  2. Messy process maybe but wonderful result for Central Australia! Congratulations Adam Giles! … Now lets get to work. There’s a real crisis in the Alice economy right now that needs consistent, visionary, hard working Government to deal with it. You’ve given us new hope Adam … Yipeee!!!

  3. Canberra-born Warren Snowdon is rattling on to interstate newspapers, accusing Adam Giles of not being a Territorian. DUH! Well Warren, you may think Canberra is the capital of the Northern Territory, but it’s not. Where are your headed after the next Federal election?

  4. Daniel Davis (pictured) says: “It’s a really good day for us down here” to have a Chief Minister from Central Australia. FROM Central Australia – I DON’T THINK SO!!! And for Central Australia – I DON’T THINK SO. For his own benefit – I THINK SO.

  5. Crikey, the local rentseekers are excited! But it is to be expected, because that is the raison d’etre of the CLP, they see the role of government through the prism of self-interest, eg Steve Brown’s concern is about the Alice Springs economy.
    It will be interesting to see how much Adam Giles listens to squeaky wheels like Steve, and how much he addresses the real economic disparities in the NT. The fact that the CLP governs is due to their success in winning bush seats will not be lost on Giles, especially as he reportedly played some part in the strategy that took those seats from Labor. Normally NT Governments have been forced to pander to the northern suburbs of Darwin, that is where elections have traditionally been won and lost. Not this time. His four indigenous MPs from the bush are likely to bring pressure to bear on the allocation of scarce resources, and rural centres like Alice Springs will get some spin off from that, but I doubt if it will the “yippee” bonanza that Steve and other traditional CLP supporters are hoping for.

  6. Through the prism of self interest, Ian? At least the prism I am looking through has some clarity of vision I would suggest that yours is clearly muddied with dark brown clouds of bull … swirling around with your usual chip on the shoulder politics of envy.
    Your damn right, my interest is about Alice Springs! Its economy, its people of all economic circumstances. Because a “good” economy is “Good” for everyone! Also, as a long time friend and supporter of Adam Giles as someone who has promoted Adam for this role for some years I am very pleased by yesterday’s results, Yippee!
    All over again! Adam has a deep understanding of regional issues and is very well aware of the steps necessary to bring real long term structural change for the better, nobody is going to pull the wool over Adam’s eyes with pompous propaganda.
    Our region has never been better represented in the Parliament, many of our more remote communities will find themselves being treated for the first time as equal citizens of the Territory with prospects of a “real” and contributing future in the “real world” away from “welfaresim” and dependency.
    That bother you a little, does it Ian? Don’t worry I’m sure you’ll find someone else to patronise soon enough. Perhaps a good lie down …

  7. @ Steve Brown. It’s a shame that you feel you have to attack those who challenge your opinions. Accusing Ian of being “clearly muddled” is an oxymoron which my dictionary describes as a contradictory term. I think it’s impossible not to contradict oneself at times, especially when one uses cliches more often than thinking for oneself, but metaphor and cliche are stamped upon our consciousness, sometimes with a big shoe.
    You write that a “good” economy is “Good” for everyone!” but why do you put “good” and “real world” in inverted commas if you’re sure that these concepts exist as absolutes easily understood by everyone?
    I didn’t know that “Welfarism” was a word until I got out my dictionary and discovered that it’s defined as “the policies and attitudes associated with a welfare state”.
    It’s not a crime to be wrong or even stupid, which my dictionary declares to be “lacking in common sense, perception, or normal intelligence.” I sometimes like to debate these things with my friends. It has been a humbling experience.
    Contradicting someone can be said to be lacking common sense, but we’re all learning to get along with what’s real. It’s a humbling experience for some.

  8. Sorry to have provoked you to fluster and bluster Steve. In your remarks, aside from your attempts to whack at me, I detect a bit of the old trickle down theory of economic development. My point was that I don’t think the new power balance in the CLP parliamentary wing will allow business as usual. The bushies are likely to insist of projects that directly benefit indigenous communities … housing, health, education, policing, basic infrastructure … the trickle effect might be the other way for a while? Katherine, Alice, Tennant might get some spin off effects from developments out bush. Funding for projects in the Alice itself might be a lower priority, unless they serve the needs of communities. That was my point.
    There are different views about how to allocate scarce resources, and normally CLP governments tend to favour their business backers in the towns at the expense of the bush, saying that the benefits will trickle out to the communities. Not a lot of evidence to support that view in the two decades of CLP government? You might have a different view, let’s hear it. Or you might just want to whack away some more at me personally. Which I will take as an admission that you concede my point.

  9. While I applaud Adam’s commitment to ease our power bill pain, does this mean we aren’t going to collapse under that mountain of debt the government has been talking about? Does it also mean Adam will rehire the sacked public servants and restore the funding slashed to youth programs so we get some level of service from our government? And does this mean we can afford to take some tough decisions on alcohol policy?
    Let’s see what Adam can “afford” to do.

  10. Congratulations to Adam Giles on becoming the first person of Indigenous heritage to be elected as leader of a Territory or State Government. Wish him well (but not too well!). So all of a sudden the budget can be delayed, power prices put down and the world is a better place. Chansey (Posted March 15, 2013 at 9:40 am) makes some excellent points about public servants and funding for youth programs. Don’t see this as a wonderful result for Alice Springs or the Territory just yet. This is going to be interesting.

  11. I use this opportunity to congratulate Adam Giles, for being the first, but I hope not the last!
    Happy to work with you and other Aboriginal MLAs towards writing good laws that can help us all.

  12. Adam finally got the job he came to Alice Springs for.
    Adam, how many houses are you going to build for Aboriginal people in Central Australia? When are those Shires going to be dismantled and Community Government Councils reinstated?
    Remember promising all this in opposition?

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