Whether he's in government or in opposition, Labor's candidate for Solomon Luke Gosling says he'll hold Canberra to account to deliver for the people of the top end.
He has claimed victory for the marginal seat over Country Liberals incumbent Natasha Griggs, who is yet to concede.
With 21 of 26 polling places returned, Mr Gosling had a swing of 6.22 per cent, for a two-party preferred result of 56.52 per cent to 43.48 per cent.
Territorians were disappointed and felt they hadn't been getting proper representation from the coalition, he said.
"I've been really proud that our campaign team has been out there talking about the positive things we want to get for the top end, like more funding for schools, get the Palmerston hospital finished, proper backing of Medicare, like full backing of universal healthcare and some assistance with cost of living issues," he told reporters.
"People leave the Territory when they can't afford to live here anymore, and to me that's really sad because we're living in the most amazing place and we're trying to build this northern capital and when people leave town we lose something."
He said Labor wanted to increase the population of the NT.
"We want to grow and we can only do that if we're getting proper attention from Canberra."
Without a clear result for the federal government on Saturday night, Mr Gosling was considering both the possibility of trying to deliver either in government or in opposition.
"When you're in opposition you've got to work your hardest, you've got to make sure you're the best possible advocate for the people you're representing, you've got to work co-operatively with the government of the day to get things done," he said.
"I hope (Labor leader) Bill Shorten is able to form government, but I'll hold (Prime Minister) Malcolm Turnbull to every promise he's made to the people of Darwin and Palmerston," he said.
