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Speaker 1: There's been a lot of speculation about who might run

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Speaker 1: for the seat of Nightcliff at the upcoming by election,

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Speaker 1: with the date yet to be verified. But joining me

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Speaker 1: on the line from Sky News is Matt Cunningham with

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Speaker 1: a bit of news about who we know isn't going

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Speaker 1: to run. Good morning to you, Matt.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, morning Katie, Matt, what's the mail mate? Well, you know,

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Speaker 2: I have been trying to sort of reach out to

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Speaker 2: a few people here and there and see what might

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Speaker 2: be going on. But we know that obviously Natasha Files

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Speaker 2: held the seat of Nightcliff for a long time, but

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Speaker 2: she has provided a statement just confirming that she is

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Speaker 2: not considering running. So she says she's reached out to

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Speaker 2: Cata Mcamara to wish her well. She says it's important

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Speaker 2: that the nightclub Electric has a strong local voice to

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Speaker 2: represent them, and she says I am not considering running.

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Speaker 2: I very much am enjoying the role, the new role

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Speaker 2: that she's in now and opportunities that I have now.

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Speaker 2: So you won't see a political comeback from the Tasher

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Speaker 2: Files at the Nightcliff by election. My understanding, My understanding, Katie,

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Speaker 2: and I haven't spoken to Edi himself But my understanding

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Speaker 2: is that Ed Smelt is pretty much a done deal

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Speaker 2: to be the Labor candidate in the Nightcliff by election.

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Speaker 2: That both are left and the right factions of the

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Speaker 2: Labor Party have basically agreed that he will be the man.

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Speaker 1: I had heard something similar this morning Matt as well

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Speaker 1: from an insider, and I think that that's a good

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Speaker 1: choice if that's who they go with.

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Speaker 2: Look, he's someone who's worked very hard on the council

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Speaker 2: and he's well known in the local area. You know,

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Speaker 2: he's been involved in the Brick Club and other organizations.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, he's going to have a tough job in

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Speaker 2: front of him. But yeah, so I think you can

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Speaker 2: pretty much lock in Ed Smelt as Labor's candidate for

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Speaker 2: the by election. It's going to be interesting to see

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Speaker 2: who else runs. I know you're talking the other day

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Speaker 2: about Suphan Dorris Walker, and I think that's everyone's expectation,

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Speaker 2: but I don't know whether anyone's been able to confirm

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Speaker 2: whether that's the case. I think the Greens are running

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Speaker 2: their process just like their candidates, and obviously time is

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Speaker 2: of the essence here everything. Everyone has to get this

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Speaker 2: done quickly. I mean, the other one I think that's

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Speaker 2: going to be interesting, is Phil Scott. So I did

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Speaker 2: reach out to Phil and see whether he was planning

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Speaker 2: on running, and he hasn't ruled it out. So the

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Speaker 2: message I got back from him was that he is

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Speaker 2: going to think about us. He says, we desperately needed

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Speaker 2: a government after close to half a century of major

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Speaker 2: party mediocrity, and we cannot say with honesty that we're

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Speaker 2: thriving here in the territory. It was a longer statement,

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Speaker 2: but that was part of it. So that'll make an

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Speaker 2: interesting sort of three way contest. And you know that's

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Speaker 2: not including the CLP as well. But you know, if

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Speaker 2: you had the Greens, Phil Scott, you know who is

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Speaker 2: essentially appeal independent, and then Labor, that's going to be

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Speaker 2: an interesting That would make a very interesting bould go

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Speaker 2: really one of three ways. I haven't drilled down in

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Speaker 2: the numbers, but still Scott told about twelve percent of

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Speaker 2: the voting Solomon. But I think if you went and

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Speaker 2: did a bit of a booth by booth analysis, which

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Speaker 2: I haven't done, I think his numbers would be pretty

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Speaker 2: strong in the sort of nightcliff rap rapid creep boom.

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Speaker 2: So it'd be interesting to see what happens there. You know,

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Speaker 2: it might be a case if he finishes ahead of

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Speaker 2: the Greens and gets doing preferences and he could, you know,

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Speaker 2: reasonably be a big chance to win that seat. And

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Speaker 2: then the CLP, I mean, you know the name. I've

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Speaker 2: been hearing that. I'm fanning. I think that they're meeting tonight.

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Speaker 2: The CLPS also some suggestions that they might not even

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Speaker 2: run a candidate, although I'm not sure that'd be a

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Speaker 2: great look, not anyone, but you know, it's not It's

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Speaker 2: not a seat that the CLP would be hugely confident

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Speaker 2: about winning. They haven't held it for more than twenty years,

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Speaker 2: but you know, who knows.

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Speaker 1: Look, I think you've got to have someone in the race.

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Speaker 1: So I don't think that you can just go, oh, well,

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Speaker 1: you know it's it's you know, it's a more left

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Speaker 1: leaning seat, So we're not going to bother because you'd

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Speaker 1: still have people that vote conservatively in the nightcliff elector

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Speaker 1: who still want to be able to make sure that

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Speaker 1: they can put their vote to somebody that they think's worthwhile.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I guess. I mean, if you're looking

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Speaker 2: at strategically, you might think that I mean depending. I

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Speaker 2: don't know. I'm just guessing you. I don't know what

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Speaker 2: the CLP. You know, he's thinking strategically. But if the

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Speaker 2: CLP doesn't run a candidate, I guess it means that

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Speaker 2: Labour's chances of winning are reduced somewhat because you would

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Speaker 2: think that CLP voters would preference Labor ahead of the Green.

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Speaker 1: But you know who knows.

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Speaker 2: Nightcliffe was fascinating at the last election because you had

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Speaker 2: talked I mean, the CLP didn't do too badly night Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I have the exact that was in front of me,

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Speaker 2: but I think you know they were second. Yeah, got

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Speaker 2: thirty one percent of the vote, and maybe the CLP

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Speaker 2: got twenty five, But then you had.

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Speaker 1: Twenty three I think it was. I'm pretty sure it

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Speaker 1: was twenty three. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And then you had Milimer May who was running as

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Speaker 2: a sort of kill community based independent whatever you want

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Speaker 2: to call them, and the Green you know, and obviously

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Speaker 2: sharing preferences and a pretty strong preference flow from from

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Speaker 2: the Green to the Kills or the Heels to the Greens,

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Speaker 2: which then makes it really hard for the major parties

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Speaker 2: to get over the line. And I guess the other

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Speaker 2: thing with those CLP votes. A lot of those CLP

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Speaker 2: voters weren't putting labor number two. They were putting labor last.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So whether they would still do that, I guess,

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Speaker 1: you know, this time around, like people have had their

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Speaker 1: protest vote, I guess at the August twenty twenty four election,

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Speaker 1: whether they would still do that, I guess will be

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Speaker 1: interesting to see or whether people sort of go, do

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Speaker 1: you know what? Ship? I had my protest vote. I

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Speaker 1: didn't think Files he was going to get ousted. I

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Speaker 1: thought i'd, you know, I'd teach her a bit of

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Speaker 1: a lesson, But I didn't think we were going to

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Speaker 1: end up with her as a local member. And I

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Speaker 1: do get that sentiment a little bit matt from some

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Speaker 1: people that live in Nightcliff.

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Speaker 2: I think there's been a fair bit of buyers regret

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Speaker 2: from Nightly people, and this is going to be something

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Speaker 2: that will be difficult for the Greens to overcome. I mean,

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Speaker 2: Natasha Files basically was the master of being a local member.

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Speaker 2: You know, she delivered tupcakes to the primary school and

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Speaker 2: the high school and every teacher, and you know, she

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Speaker 2: sent every constituent of Bloody card on their birthday and

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Speaker 2: if anyone raised an issue. She'd be around there personally

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Speaker 2: knocking on your door within five minutes, you know, trying

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Speaker 2: to sort it out. They're they're used to that kind

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Speaker 2: of you know, role goal deluxe service from their local member. Actually,

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Speaker 2: it was interesting when I was out in box popping

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Speaker 2: a nightcliff the other day on the day that this happened,

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Speaker 2: and you know, there were a lot of people expressing,

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Speaker 2: you know, they're sort of or lamenting the fact that

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Speaker 2: Natasha Files wasn't their local member anymore. But there was

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Speaker 2: a lot of love being expressed for Julie, right, and

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Speaker 2: so Julie was Natasha's electorate for a long time. It's

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Speaker 2: such an important job.

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Speaker 1: She's a wonderful woman and she deserves that love. Lady.

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Speaker 1: She's been a long term you know, help her at

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Speaker 1: gymnastics as well. She's a fantastic person.

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Speaker 2: Well, I think there's a lot of people night, people

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Speaker 2: who probably you know, above and beyond everything else, would

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Speaker 2: like to have Julie back in the Electric you know, like.

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Speaker 1: And I think she's going to work for who knows.

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Speaker 1: Maybe if if ed got back in, they get Julie back.

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Speaker 2: Maybe, I don't know, you might have to ask. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: But on a more serious note about that. I mean,

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Speaker 2: that's that's the issue that the Greens might have, is

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Speaker 2: that having had eighteen months where I would say, you know,

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Speaker 2: there'd be a lot of nights of constituents who felt

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Speaker 2: that when it came to the local sort of grass

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Speaker 2: roots issues, they perhaps weren't getting the kind of service

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Speaker 2: they become accustomed to, and whether they think, you know,

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Speaker 2: that voting for the Greens while you know, on national

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Speaker 2: or international issues might be in line with their ideological position,

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Speaker 2: whether you know, whether.

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Speaker 1: It a good local representation that's right.

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Speaker 2: And territory politics, whether you like it or not, you know,

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Speaker 2: it's often about really really grassrootsues. It's about you know,

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Speaker 2: maybe the concern about bloody public housing, or it's the

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Speaker 2: issue with speeding traffic or footpaths or things that might

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Speaker 2: be council issues, you know, and if someone, if someone

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Speaker 2: has done a really good job of addressing those sort

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Speaker 2: of things and then suddenly people feel like they're not

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Speaker 2: getting that sort of service at that level, that might

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Speaker 2: be problematic.

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Speaker 1: We're going to have to leave it there because we've

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Speaker 1: got to go across and catch up with the speaker

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Speaker 1: of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, find out you know

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Speaker 1: when this route is going to be issued, etc. People

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Speaker 1: talk to you soon. Thank you,