FED:Labor concedes loss in Solomon

AAP General News (Australia)
08-22-2010
FED:Labor concedes loss in Solomon

DARWIN, Aug 22 AAP - Labor's Damian Hale has conceded defeat in his battle to retain
the Northern Territory seat of Solomon.

When Mr Hale first contested the Darwin-based seat in 2007, the result was so close
that it took several weeks before a winner could be declared.

The football coach and greenkeeper won the seat from Country Liberal David Tollner
by fewer than 200 votes in an electorate of 60,000.

The contest for Labor's second most vulnerable seat was expected to be just as close this year.

But just a few hours after polling closed Mr Hale conceded defeat.

On Sunday afternoon, Country Liberal candidate Natasha Griggs, who is expected to become
the third person to hold the seat, said she was confident but not quite ready to call
it an absolute win.

With 81 per cent of votes counted, she managed to gain 52.7 of the vote on a two-party basis.

All she needed was a 0.2 per cent swing.

Ms Griggs gained 2.8 per cent.

Defence Force votes and postal votes are yet to be counted.

Often criticised for fumbling her lines while being interviewed by the media during
the campaign, Ms Griggs recognised that she was not a polished performer.

Her campaign began back in January, well before the election was called, and she spent
most of her time door-knocking and meeting people in her electorate.

Many of the former Palmerston deputy mayor's policies focus on local issues such as
sewerage, CCTV cameras and fishing permits.

Commentators claim the seat was lost by Labor, not won by the Country Liberals.

Mr Hale's career as an MP was plagued with problems, including a marital wrangle which
resulted in mutual domestic violence court orders and a physical drunken spat with a professional
footballer in an NT bar.

While many politicians would have attempted to capitalise on their opponent's problems,
Ms Griggs never commented publicly on Mr Hale's personal life.

Instead, she ran a series of entertaining television advertisements depicting Mr Hale
as the fart-fuelled cartoon super hero, Mr Invisible!

AAP lcs/jl

KEYWORD: POLL10 SOLOMON

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