Dumped Northern Territory chief minister Terry Mills says he won't serve in cabinet under new leader Adam Giles.
Mr Mills said if Mr Giles was thinking of offering him a cabinet post, he should "think again".
The former Country Liberal Party leader returned to Darwin from Japan on Thursday, after being replaced as chief minister by Mr Giles at a meeting of CLP MPs on Wednesday, while he was away.
He said he would consider his future in politics after talking with his family and was saddened rather than angry about the move against him.
"To be able to serve as a chief minister I need support and I haven't got that," he told reporters at Darwin Airport.
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"I'll just consider my response to this. I wish those well who have made this decision. "I'm a little sad of course, but I'll move on."
Mr Mills said he was at a loss to understand what had actually happened but said there had been "extraordinary pressure" placed on Aboriginal MPs.
He said he wanted to talk to them to get a better understanding of what transpired.
Mr Mills said he had already spoken with Mr Giles and wished him well. "It was a fairly brief conversation and it was basically to give him the freedom to configure his cabinet without having to include me," Mr Mills said.
Mr Giles was due to be sworn in as chief minister later on Thursday.
His elevation came after weeks of instability within the CLP with Mr Mills seeing off two previous challenges.
