ALP 13.7%
Incumbent MP
Lynne Walker, since 2008.
Geography
Top End. Nhulunbuy covers the north-eastern tip of Arnhem Land.
Redistribution
Nhulunbuy expanded west, taking in larger parts of East Arnhem.
History
The electorate of Nhulunbuy has existed since the first NT assembly election in 1974. Labor has held the seat since 1980.
The CLP’s Milton Ballantyne held Nhulunbuy from 1974 to 1980, when he lost to Labor’s Dan Leo.
Leo held Nhulunbuy until 1990, when he was succeeded by Syd Stirling. Stirling became deputy leader of Labor in 1999, and became deputy chief minister in 2001. He stepped down from his leadership roles in 2007 and retired at the 2008 election.
Labor’s Lynne Walker won Nhulunbuy in 2008, and was re-elected in 2012.
Candidates
- Jackson Anni (Independent)
- Charlie Yunupingu (Country Liberal)
- Lynne Walker (Labor)
- Yingiya Mark Guyula (Independent)
Assessment
Labor should have no trouble retaining Nhulunbuy, which is their safest seat.
2012 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Lynne Walker | Labor | 1,554 | 55.0 | -19.1 | 51.8 |
| Allen Fanning | Country Liberal | 641 | 22.7 | -3.1 | 30.4 |
| Kendall Trudgen | Independent | 629 | 22.3 | +22.3 | 17.8 |
| Informal | 136 | 4.6 |
2012 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Lynne Walker | Labor | 1,948 | 69.0 | -5.2 | 63.7 |
| Allen Fanning | Country Liberal | 876 | 31.0 | +5.2 | 36.3 |
Booth breakdown
There are four booths in Nhulunbuy. The booths of Galiwinku, Nhulunbuy and Yirrkala were all in Nhulunbuy prior to the redistribution, while Ramingining was transferred from Arnhem.
Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in the three booths contained in the electorate before the redistribution, ranging from 61.8% in Yirrakala to 78.6% in Galiwinku. The CLP won 64.2% in Ramingining. Labor won 57% of the mobile vote and 66% of the pre-poll vote.
Independent candidate Kendall Trudgen polled well, with a vote ranging from 10% at Nhulunbuy to 58% in Galiwinku.
| Voter group | IND % | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Nhulunbuy | 10.0 | 67.4 | 1,079 | 30.5 |
| Galiwinku | 58.3 | 78.6 | 429 | 12.1 |
| Yirrkala | 26.2 | 61.8 | 325 | 9.2 |
| Ramingining | 0.0 | 35.8 | 226 | 6.4 |
| Mobile | 14.2 | 57.0 | 748 | 21.1 |
| Pre-poll | 5.9 | 66.3 | 389 | 11.0 |
| Other votes | 16.5 | 57.8 | 346 | 9.8 |
Charlie Yunupingu standing for the CLP is very respected in the community, I think he’ll bring a lot to their cause. If it wasn’t for the tide of anti-CLP sentiment at the moment I think he’d be close to taking it.
Keep an eye on Yingiya Mark Guyula. In Lingiari, he got 62% from “remote mobile team 5”, and 25% and 31% in two other mobile booths. Nowhere near as good in the town of Nhulunbuy, though – slightly under 10%. Kendall Trudgen (the independent from last time) is his campaign manager, so most of that 22% should transfer across.
He has a website here. Reckons he got 1091 primary votes to 922 for Labor in northeast Arnhem Land (presumably remote booths 5 and 6, Nhulunbuy and Nhulunbuy PPVC). The results there were 36.3% Guyula, 30.7% ALP, 17.6% CLP, 8.4% SFP (donkey vote) – he could win with figures like that. The informal vote was 12.6%, which should be less here with four candidates instead of nine.