| Election Name: | 1997 Northern Territory general election |
| Country: | Northern Territory |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1994 Northern Territory general election |
| Previous Year: | 1994 |
| Next Election: | 2001 Northern Territory general election |
| Next Year: | 2001 |
| Seats For Election: | All 25 seats of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly |
| Majority Seats: | 13 |
| Turnout: | 79.0 (1.7 pp) |
| Leader1: | Shane Stone |
| Leader Since1: | 26 May 1995 |
| Party1: | Country Liberal Party |
| Leaders Seat1: | Port Darwin |
| Popular Vote1: | 41,722 |
| Percentage1: | 54.5% |
| Swing1: | 2.6 |
| Last Election1: | 17 seats |
| Seats Before1: | 16 |
| Seats1: | 18 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| Leader2: | Maggie Hickey |
| Leader Since2: | 16 April 1996 |
| Party2: | Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch) |
| Leaders Seat2: | Barkly |
| Popular Vote2: | 29,365 |
| Percentage2: | 38.5% |
| Swing2: | 2.9 |
| Last Election2: | 7 seats |
| Seats Before2: | 8 |
| Seats2: | 7 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| 1Blank: | TPP |
| 1Data1: | 57.9% |
| 1Data2: | 42.1% |
| 2Blank: | TPP |
| 2Data1: | 1.6 |
| 2Data2: | 1.6 |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Chief Minister | |
| Before Election: | Shane Stone |
| Before Party: | Country Liberal Party |
| After Election: | Shane Stone |
| After Party: | Country Liberal Party |
A general election was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday August 30, 1997, and was won by the incumbent Country Liberal Party (CLP).
Shane Stone continued as Chief Minister.
During the previous term, the CLP had lost the seat of Fannie Bay to Labor in a by-election. The CLP did not win the seat back, but managed to take MacDonnell from Labor and Nelson after Independent Noel Padgham-Purich retired.
See also: Results of the Northern Territory general election, 1997.
| 18 | 7 | |
| CLP | Labor |
Sitting members are listed in bold. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour.
| Electorate | Held by | Labor candidate | CLP candidate | Other candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maurice Rioli | Jacob Nayinggul | |||||
| Lilliah McCulloch | Eric Poole | |||||
| Jack Ah Kit | Alan Wright | Lance Lawrence (Ind) Thomas Maywundjiwuy (Grn) | ||||
| Maggie Hickey | Mark John | Barry Nattrass (Ind) | ||||
| Richard Bawden | Barry Coulter | |||||
| Peter Brooke | Loraine Braham | |||||
| Stephen Bennett | Denis Burke | |||||
| Douglas McLeod | Peter Adamson | |||||
| Paul Nieuwenhoven | Stuart Edwards (Dem) | |||||
| Clare Martin | Michael Kilgariff | |||||
| Wayne Connop | Terry McCarthy | Strider (Ind) | ||||
| Peter Kavanagh | Richard Lim | |||||
| Catherine Phillips | Stephen Barnes (Ind) Ross Forday (Ind) | |||||
| John Tobin | Mick Palmer | |||||
| Michael Peirce | Mike Reed | Peter Byers (Ind) | ||||
| Mark Wheeler | Kenneth Lechleitner (Ind) | |||||
| Peter O'Hagan | Phil Mitchell | Ian Mills (Ind) June Mills (Grn) | ||||
| Theresa Francis | Dave Tollner (Ind) | |||||
| Syd Stirling | Richard Davey | |||||
| Stephen Hatton | Theo Katapodis (Ind) Betty McCleary (Ind) | |||||
| Geoffrey Carter | Shane Stone | Lex Martin (Ind) | ||||
| Michael Atkinson | Daryl Manzie | |||||
| Peter Toyne | John Bohning | |||||
| Paul La Fontaine | Tim Baldwin | |||||
| John Bailey |
| Seat | Pre-1997 | Swing | Post-1997 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | |||||||
| MacDonnell | Labor | Neil Bell | 15.9 | 18.7 | 2.8 | John Elferink | Country Liberal | |||||
| Nelson | Independent | Noel Padgham-Purich | 3.1 | 3.7 | 0.6 | Chris Lugg | Country Liberal | |||||
The following pendulum is known as the Mackerras pendulum, invented by psephologist Malcolm Mackerras. The pendulum works by lining up all of the seats held in the Legislative Assembly according to the percentage point margin they are held by on a two-party-preferred basis. This is also known as the swing required for the seat to change hands. Given a uniform swing to the opposition or government parties, the number of seats that change hands can be predicted.
| Country Liberal seats | ||||
| Marginal | ||||
| Nelson | Chris Lugg | CLP | 0.6 v IND | |
| Karama | Mick Palmer | CLP | 1.7 | |
| Macdonnell | John Elferink | CLP | 2.8 | |
| Nightcliff | Stephen Hatton | CLP | 4.6 | |
| Fairly safe | ||||
| Jingili | Steve Balch | CLP | 6.7 | |
| Casuarina | Peter Adamson | CLP | 7.9 | |
| Millner | Phil Mitchell | CLP | 8.7 | |
| Sanderson | Daryl Manzie | CLP | 9.3 | |
| Safe | ||||
| Greatorex | Richard Lim | CLP | 10.5 | |
| Goyder | Terry McCarthy | CLP | 11.7 | |
| Drysdale | Stephen Dunham | CLP | 13.3 | |
| Victoria River | Tim Baldwin | CLP | 16.1 | |
| Braitling | Loraine Braham | CLP | 16.4 | |
| Port Darwin | Shane Stone | CLP | 17.0 | |
| Araluen | Eric Poole | CLP | 19.2 | |
| Very safe | ||||
| Blain | Barry Coulter | CLP | 23.8 | |
| Brennan | Denis Burke | CLP | 24.3 | |
| Katherine | Mike Reed | CLP | 24.5 | |
| Labor seats | ||||
| Marginal | ||||
| Stuart | Peter Toyne | ALP | 1.5 | |
| Wanguri | John Bailey | ALP | 2.0 | |
| Fannie Bay | Clare Martin | ALP | 3.0 | |
| Fairly safe | ||||
| Arafura | Maurice Rioli | ALP | 9.0 | |
| Arnhem | Jack Ah Kit | ALP | 7.8 | |
| Barkly | Maggie Hickey | ALP | 8.0 | |
| Safe | ||||
| Very safe | ||||
| Nhulunbuy | Syd Stirling | ALP | 22.1 | |