The new member for the Northern Territory seat of Arafura, Labor's Manuel Brown, says support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the bush seat contributed to his victory.
NOTE: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of his family.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles declared Mr Brown's victory on social media on Saturday night, two hours after the polls closed.
He secured 66 per cent of first preferences with more than half the votes counted, beating the Country Liberal Party's (CLP) Leslie Tungatalum.
Speaking alongside Ms Fyles in Darwin this afternoon, he said he had learnt a lot from Lawrence Costa, who previously held Arafura and whose death late last year triggered the by-election.
"I worked with Mr Costa before the COVID lockdown happened," Mr Brown said.
"What I've learnt from him was listen to the people, go out to the people and obviously be patient.
"Give them true facts, don't beat around the bush."
He said his victory showed that the electorate, which covers the Tiwi Islands and much of west Arnhem Land, supported an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
"The communities around the Top End want our foot in the door in regards to Voice," he said.
"That’s what they're pushing, and that’s what they want."
The parliamentary wing of the CLP is yet to announce a position on the Voice, while the rank-and-file members have voted to oppose it.
It led to the resignation of the party's president, Lawson Broad, last week.
'Extraordinary' election result
Ms Fyles described last night's election result as "extraordinary".
"By-elections tend not to go to the government, but a 15 per cent swing to the government shows the CLP are completely out of touch, particularly in the bush," she said.
She said the position of the CLP leader, Lia Finocchiaro, was "untenable" given the result, and said Ms Finocchiaro had shown a lack of leadership by "sitting on the fence" in regards to the Voice.
In response to questions from the ABC, Ms Finocchiaro acknowledged the result was "disappointing" but vowed to continue on as leader.
"We knew we came into this as the underdog having only won the seat once before and wanting to respect the cultural importance surrounding appropriately honouring the former member for Arafura," she said.
The CLP leader said Mr Tungatalum would "continue to be a local voice for the Arafura communities".
In a social media post last night, Ms Finocchiaro thanked him and CLP volunteers for their work during the by-election.
"We faced this election as a team, and we will again in August 2024 [the next NT general election]."
Mr Brown will officially be sworn in on Tuesday next week, Ms Fyles said, which is the first day of NT Parliamentary sittings.
The NT Electoral Commission will officially declare the election result on Monday afternoon.
