Sanderson – NT 2020

ALP 10.5%

Incumbent MP
Kate Worden, since 2016.

Geography
Northern suburbs of Darwin. Sanderson covers the suburbs of Marrara, Wagaman and Walagi in northern Darwin.

Redistribution
Sanderson expanded to take in Darwin Airport, but this barely made any difference to the population of the electorate, and made no change to the margin.

History
The electorate of Sanderson was created in 1974 for the first Northern Territory assembly election. The seat has alternated back and forth between Labor and the Country Liberal Party.

Liz Andrew first won Sanderson for the CLP in 1974. Andrew served in the Education portfolio in the first NT Assembly (not strictly as a minister as the NT had not yet gained self-government).

Andrew was replaced by Labor’s June D’Rozario in 1977. She held Sanderson for Labor for two terms, until 1983, when she lost to Country Liberal candidate Daryl Manzie.

Manzie served five terms as Member for Sanderson, retiring in 2001.

Labor’s Len Kiely won Sanderson in 2001 in the absence of an incumbent MP. Kiely held Sanderson for two terms, serving as a minister from 2007 until he lost his seat at the 2008 election to CLP candidate Peter Styles.

Styles held Sanderson for two terms, serving as a minister in the CLP government for the last few years. He served as Deputy Chief Minister from February 2016 until that year’s election.

Styles lost Sanderson to Labor candidate Kate Worden at the 2016 election, thanks to a swing of over 13%.

Candidates

• Derek Mayger (Country Liberal)
• Amelia Nuku (Territory Alliance)
• Kate Worden (Labor)

Assessment
Sanderson has tended to swing back and forth between Labor and the CLP. It seems likely that Labor will hold this seat but it can be unpredictable.

2016 result

2016 two-candidate-preferred result

Booth breakdown
There are two booths in Sanderson: Anula and Wagaman.

Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote at every booth, ranging from 59.7% in Anula to 66.3% in Wagaman, with the pre-poll vote somewhere in between.