Electoral division of Arafura

Arafura Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Arafura in the Northern Territory
Territory	Northern Territory
Created	1983
MP	Lawrence Costa
Party	Australian Labor Party
Namesake	Arafura Sea
Electors	4,848 (2016)
Area	156,087 km² (60,265.5 sq mi)
Demographic	Remote

Arafura is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1983, and takes its name from the Arafura Sea, which adjoins the electorate. The electorate is predominantly rural, encompassing 156,087 square kilometres (60,266 square miles) in western Arnhem Land and the Tiwi Islands, and including the towns of Oenpelli, Jabiru, Maningrida, Milikapiti and Nguiu. There were 5,477 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2012.

Background

Arafura was a safe seat for the Australian Labor Party from its inception until 2012, when the seat was won by the Country Liberal Party in a 15 per cent swing. However, Labor regained it as part of its massive victory in 2016. The electorate has a particularly high indigenous population, which has been reflected in its having been represented by five consecutive indigenous MPs.

Members for Arafura

	Party	Term
Bob Collins	Labor	1983–1987
Stan Tipiloura	Labor	1987–1992
Maurice Rioli	Labor	1992–2001
Marion Scrymgour	Labor	2001–2009
	Independent	2009
	Labor	2009–2012
Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu	Country Liberal	2012–2014
	Independent	2014
	Palmer United	2014
	Country Liberal	2014–2016
Lawrence Costa	Labor	2016–present

Election results

Northern Territory general election, 2016: Arafura^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labor	Lawrence Costa	1,087	46.3	+11.7
	Country Liberal	Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu	903	38.4	–5.5
	1 Territory	Jon Lotu	284	12.1	+12.1
	Independent	Tristan Mungatopi	75	3.2	+3.2
Total formal votes			2,349	98.6	+3.1
Informal votes			34	1.4	−3.1
Turnout			2,383	49.2	−11.2
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Lawrence Costa	1,234	54.7	+7.2
	Country Liberal	Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu	1,020	45.3	−7.2
	Labor gain from Country Liberal		Swing	+7.2

References

↑ Arafura – Electorate Summary, Northern Territory Electoral Commission, 9 September 2016

External links

Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission

Electoral divisions of the Northern Territory

Current	Arafura Araluen Arnhem Barkly Blain Braitling Brennan Casuarina Daly Drysdale Fannie Bay Fong Lim Goyder Johnston Karama Katherine Namatjira Nelson Nhulunbuy Nightcliff Port Darwin Sanderson Spillett Stuart Wanguri

Former	Alice Springs Berrimah Elsey Flynn Gillen Greatorex Jingili Koolpinyah Leanyer Ludmilla MacDonnell Millner Palmerston Sadadeen Stuart Park Tiwi Victoria River Wagaman

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