Electoral Division of Daly

Electoral Division Of Daly

Daly is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was created in 2001, and takes its name from the Daly River region which lies at the heart of the electorate. Daly covers some 81,818 km², encompassing the towns of Adelaide River, Acacia Hills, Batchelor, Dundee, Nauiyu Nambiyu, Pine Creek, Timber Creek and Wadeye. There were 5,329 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2012.

Daly is the newest electorate in the Northern Territory, having only been created in 2001. It replaced the Victoria River electorate, which had been abolished when its namesake was moved out of the electorate by a redistribution. While Victoria River had been held by the Australian Labor Party in the past, Daly appeared on paper to be a safe seat for the Country Liberal Party, having been held easily by then-member Tim Baldwin. However, he retired at the 2005 election, and while the CLP candidate, Debbi Aloisi, was widely predicted to succeed him, she was ultimately defeated by ALP candidate Rob Knight. In the lead-up to the election, there had been almost no suggestion that Knight had any chance of defeating Aloisi, let alone that he would win, yet on election day, he received a 30.4% swing—almost unheard of in Australian politics—and easily swept to victory. He was re-elected in 2008, but was defeated by CLP candidate Gary Higgins in 2012.