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Former Minister for Indigenous Policy, Alison Anderson. |
Anderson left hanging; Wood will not back 'no confidence' vote in Henderson government, sources reveal
Friday, 7 August 2009
By Chris Graham
NATIONAL, August 13, 2009: Alison Anderson - the former Labor Minister for Indigenous Policy who last week quit the party and threw the Territory government into chaos - has been out-manoeuvred by her former colleagues, with Labor set to defeat a 'no confidence' motion in parliament tomorrow.
Political sources in the NT have told NIT that Gerry Wood - the independent MLA for the seat of Nelson and the man who, in theory, holds the balance of power in the NT parliament - will not support tomorrow's no confidence motion.
The vote was brought on after the resignation of Anderson last week in protest at Labor's handling of Indigenous housing under the NT emergency intervention. Her defection followed that of Aboriginal colleague Marion Scrymgour, who quit Labor two months ago in protest at the NT government's handling of Aboriginal funding for remote Indigenous outstations.
Scrymgour's departure left Labor with 12 seats in a 25-seat parliament, however she gave Labor a guarantee she would support the government against any no confidence motions. The Henderson government lumbered on, albeit on a knife-edge.
Anderson's resignation last week should have, in theory, ended Labor's reign and sparked either an election, or handed government to the Country Liberal Party. But within hours of Anderson's public announcement, Scrymgour rejoined the ALP, returning Labor to 12 seats.
The difference this time, however, is that Anderson publicly stated she would not support the government if a no confidence motion was brought against it, describing her former boss - NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson - as a "dead man walking".
Parliament was recalled on Monday, and a no confidence motion was scheduled for tomorrow (Friday).
Many expected Gerry Wood - the independent Member for Nelson, a seat on the outskirts of Darwin - would join Anderson and the CLP in voting supporting the no confidence motion against the Henderson government.
But political sources within the NT told NIT that Mr Wood was now "95 percent likely to support the government tomorrow".
"The fifth floor is celebrating," one source said, a reference to the Chief Minister's department at the Parliament House offices in Darwin.
But the 'fifth floor' strongly denied that claim. A spokesperson for the Henderson government this evening told NIT that if "celebrating" was getting on with the business of government, then the 'fifth floor' celebrated every day of the working week.
The spokesperson said the Henderson government had not negotiated any deal with Gerry Wood.
In fact, NIT understands that as of late this afternoon, Mr Wood had not even told the Henderson government his intention to not support the no confidence motion.
Whatever the relationship between Wood and the government, one person's future is almost certain- Alison Anderson will likely be left powerless, and floundering.
She appears to have swapped her job in the Indigenous affairs portfolio - the position that gave her the greatest chance of positively influencing the outcome of Indigenous policy in the NT - for a spot on the crossbenches of parliament, or at best, as a member of the Opposition within the CLP.
Either way, it will be a bitter defeat for the former ATSIC Commissioner.
For his part, Wood has played his cards close to his chest.
ABC Online reported today: "You know I've made up my mind," Wood said. "I've come to pretty much what I think is the right decision but I need a little bit more work. It is not 100 per cent watertight."
Mr Wood told the Northern Territory News yesterday that his position would be based on the "the least disruptive method to keep the economy going. Part of being a viable government is that the economy is safe."
There has been an assumption that if Wood backs the ALP, he will join the government to vote against the 'no confidence' motion.
But there is another alternative, and while it's unusual, given the volatile, always spectacular nature of the NT politics, it's almost probable.
Wood could abstain from voting tomorrow, which would likely return a vote of 12-12. That would leave the speaker of parliament - Labor's Jane Aagaard - the casting vote.
Aagaard would obviously support her party, securing government for Henderson.
It's a reasonable option for Wood because he's always maintained a respectable distance from both Labor and the conservatives.
Not voting in the motion would protect his reputation as a genuine independent. Playing on Wood's mind will be the fact that the seat of Nelson has almost always been held by an independent - only once has it ever been won by a major party (the CLP, from 1997 to 2001).
Abstaining from a vote would also ensure there was no early election - Territorians went to the polls a year ago, and they would like punish anyone who sent them back one-quarter of the way into a term.
Whatever Wood does, Labor will still be in power by close of business tomorrow.
Politically, many consider Wood to lean towards the conservatives, but he has a long history of negotiating deals with the ALP and has only ever served in a parliament under the control of Labor.
Ironically, regardless of who Wood supports tomorrow, it's a case of third time lucky... if you consider holding the future of stable government in your hands a 'good thing'.
When he won the seat of Nelson in 2001, Wood was expected to hold the balance of power in parliament. Labor had routed the Country Liberal Party from office but was expected to fall one short of the required 13 seats needed to rule in its own right.
Early counting left Labor with 12 seats, the CLP with 10, and Wood and Loraine Braham each securing seats as independents.
The election hung on the seat of Millner, in the outer suburbs of Darwin. While it was always going to be close, most expected the seat to be retained by the CLP's Phil Mitchell. Labor could still have formed government, but only with the help of at least one independent - Wood, or Braham.
But the young Aboriginal ALP candidate for Millner, Matthew Bonson, had an unexpected win, sneaking home by just 82 votes.
It handed Labor power for the first time in the Territory, since the self-act government in 1978.
New Chief Minister Clare Martin wisely offered Wood the position of Deputy Speaker, under Braham as Speaker.
Wood accepted, but he was dropped from the role after Labor wiped the floor with the CLP in the 2005 election, winning 19 of the 25 seats and reducing the CLP to just four.
At last year's election, it was again widely tipped that Wood might hold the balance of power. Instead, Labor secured the required 13 seats.
It was his dumping from the Deputy Speaker's role that many expected would turn Wood against the ALP tomorrow. But it appears the former shire mayor has quite a bit more political smarts.
Every time talk has turned to Wood holding he balance of power, he's played his cards very close to his chest. Now that Wood does actually hold that power, he's still resisted the urge to hit the media hustings.
It's not a bad performance from a former chicken farmer who once claimed (possibly joked) that he'd seen UFOs over the outer suburbs of Darwin.
Wood - a reasonably accomplished sprinter - has in the past won the over 45s division of the Litchfield Gift. Tomorrow, he'll still be running his own race, although of course the stakes will be quite a bit higher.
* A NOTE TO OUR ONLINE
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