Alison Anderson - Northern Territory Parliamentarian

Northern Territory Parliamentarian

In late 2004, Anderson announced her intention to contest Labor preselection for the seat of MacDonnell, traditionally a safe Labor seat, but then held by two-term CLP member John Elferink. She had previously been preselected by the party to stand at the 2001 election, but had withdrawn. She subsequently resigned from the ATSIC board, and was confirmed as the Labor candidate in March. She was widely seen as a star candidate during the campaign, due to her high profile in Central Australia, stemming from her work as an ATSIC Commissioner. Her campaign suffered an early blow when her husband was charged with stealing offences in February. She suffered a further blow when, through April and May, the Alice Springs News and The Age aired sweeping allegations of corruption and mismanagement during her husband's administration of Papunya. She resisted calls from the opposition to stand aside as the candidate, dismissing the claims as a smear campaign. In spite of the allegations, she was easily elected in June, defeating Elferink with a swing of more than 30%.

The Papunya scandal continued to afflict Anderson in her first months in parliament, as the Commonwealth government launched an investigation into allegations of misuse of government funds by the town administration. This escalated in September, when her now-estranged husband, against whom she had taken out a restraining order, filed a statutory declaration with police alleging that Anderson was responsible for corrupt activities during his administration, and had attempted to bribe elders during her campaign. She was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing in the police investigation. The Commonwealth investigation, while reporting widespread missing funds, did not attribute responsibility for this to Anderson. However, allegations of mismanagement persisted in the media for months afterwards.

As her electorate represents much of Central Australia, Anderson has often acted as a spokesperson on issues affecting the communities in the area. In May 2007, she risked expulsion from the party by joining Barbara McCarthy and Karl Hampton in crossing the floor to vote against a government bill to allow the continuation of mining at the McArthur River Mine, near Borroloola.