The defection by three Aboriginal members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to the Palmer United Party (PUP) has the potential to topple the Country Liberal Party government.
The three rebel MLAs — Larisa Lee, Alison Anderson and Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu — left the CLP on March 27, saying it was failing to deliver outcomes for Aboriginal people in the NT.
The three were part of the “bush bloc” that brought the CLP to power in the 2012 election, taking the necessary seats from the incumbent ALP to form government.
Traditionally, the ALP held these majority-Aboriginal seats. But years of maintaining the racist NT intervention, and a super shires policy that limited Aboriginal control over local government, led to many Aboriginal people turning away from the ALP.
Initially, it was hoped that the bush bloc would lead to a break from bipartisan racist policies toward Aboriginal people in the NT.
In the first few months of the CLP government, then-local government minister Adam Giles launched a public discussion about reforming the super shires policy, but nothing has moved on this since Giles became Chief Minister in March last year.
Indeed, many policies seemed to make things worse for Aboriginal people. Last year there was a 23% jump in domestic violence. Aboriginal youth diversion programs have been shut down as part of CLP cost-cutting, and new policies, such as mandatory alcohol rehabilitation, have landed more Aboriginal people in prison and detention.
The three MLAs made a series of demands to the CLP government for more resources and cabinet positions. When they were refused they resigned.
Announcing that they would form a “task force” to investigate how to improve conditions in the bush, the three were looking for a political base. On April 17, they even attended a meeting of the Darwin Aboriginal Rights Coalition seeking political support.
On April 28, Anderson announced that the three would join the Palmer United Party. Anderson said there was no financial incentive to join the PUP, the NT News reported.
She said: “It’s not about money but about delivery of services to the poorest people in the country. He (Mr Palmer) has spoken about the mortality rate and we spoke at length with him about the disadvantages of Indigenous people in the NT.”
The NT News said Anderson could not point to any PUP policies that dealt with Aboriginal people.
On April 30, ABC Online said that Alice Springs Councillor and former CLP president Eli Melky had also joined the Palmer United Party. If another CLP MLA joins the PUP — and the NT News is speculating that one might — it would have the balance of power in the NT government.