Electoral division of Katherine

Katherine is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. The electorate was first created in 1987, replacing the abolished Elsey seat, and derives its name from the Katherine River. Katherine encompasses both urban and rural areas, covering an area of 6,745 km² and taking in the city of Katherine, as well as the Binjari Aboriginal Community.

Katherine Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Katherine in the Northern Territory
Territory	Northern Territory
Created	1987
MP	Jo Hersey
Party	Country Liberals
Namesake	Katherine River
Electors	5,749 (2020)
Area	6,745 km^2 (2,604.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Urban

The city of Katherine has historically been a conservative bastion, making the seat of the same name a very safe Country Liberal Party seat for most of its first three decades. Its first member, Mike Reed, was Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 1995 to 2001. Reed retired in 2003 and was succeeded at a by-election by Fay Miller, who survived a large swing to Labor to retain the seat for the CLP. Miller narrowly held onto her seat in Labor's landslide victory at the 2005 election, weathering another massive swing to Labor that surprised commentators on election night. In the end, however, Miller was left as one of only two CLP MLAs in the Top End. She retired at the 2008 election and was succeeded by Willem Westra van Holthe, who picked up a swing large enough to revert Katherine to its traditional status as a safe CLP seat. The 2012 election saw Westra van Holthe seemingly consolidate his grip on Katherine when he boosted his majority to 22.3 percent, making it the safest seat in the Territory.

At the 2016 election, Westra van Holthe suffered a swing just barely exceeding the one he had picked up in 2012, and narrowly lost the seat to Labor's Sandra Nelson. It was the first time that Labor had won a Katherine-based seat. Nelson retired at the 2020 election and the seat was won by the CLP's Jo Hersey.

Members for Katherine

Member		Party	Term
	Mike Reed	Country Liberal	1987–2003
	Fay Miller	Country Liberal	2003–2008
	Willem Westra van Holthe	Country Liberal	2008–2016
	Sandra Nelson	Labor	2016–2020
	Jo Hersey	Country Liberal	2020–present

Election results

2020 Northern Territory general election: Katherine[1][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Kate Ganley	1,281	33.0	+2.1
	Country Liberal	Jo Hersey	1,264	32.5	−1.7
	Territory Alliance	Melanie Usher	1,132	29.1	+29.1
	Independent	Clinton Booth	209	5.4	+5.4
Total formal votes			3,886	96.3	N/A
Informal votes			151	3.7	N/A
Turnout			4,037	70.2	N/A
Two-party-preferred result
	Country Liberal	Jo Hersey	2,041	52.5	+4.1
	Labor	Kate Ganley	1,845	47.5	−4.1
	Country Liberal gain from Labor		Swing	+4.1

References

1. "Electorate summary: Katherine". NTEC. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
2. "Katherine". ABC Elections. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 September 2020.

External links

• Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission