The Country Liberals Party's position as opposition to the Northern Territory Labor government is under threat with two rebel MPs trying to establish a new conservative political party.
The NT solicitor-general provided legal advice to parliament on Tuesday that in order to replace the current CLP opposition a new party merely had to have a greater number of members.
The scandal-plagued Giles CLP government performed so poorly at the 2016 election it was left with just two MPs out of the NT's 25-member legislative assembly.
Independents Terry Mills and Robyn Lambley, who were chief minister and deputy for six months before a CLP leadership spill in 2013, would need only one out of the three other NT independent MPs to join them to beat the current opposition.
Official oppositions are given far more in funding including staff and salaries, with the only two CLP MPs leader Gary Higgins and his deputy Lia Finocchiaro paid more than $250,000 and $200,000 per annum.
It has happened before in Australia when the Liberal Party replaced the United Party under Robert Menzies as federal opposition in 1943, NT solicitor-general Sonia Brownhill said in legal advice to Chief Minister Michael Gunner.
If it was not clear who was stronger it would be up to independent and Speaker Kezia Purick to decide who was the official opposition, Mr Gunner said in response to 30 questions from Ms Lambley.
Ms Purick was forced to apologise to parliament on Tuesday after one of her staff members interfered with the independents efforts to form a new political party
Ms Lambley and Mr Mills said this week they had been in discussions with the National Party - despite the fact the CLP is aligned with the Nationals - and had considered setting up a North Australia Party.
The pair accused the CLP of not properly scrutinising or holding the government to account.
"Terry and I have been concerned particularly over the last few years that the Territory lacks a strong democratic process," Ms Lambley told reporters.
People had turned their backs on the CLP, were looking for an alternative model that was locally modern, relevant and represented the north but was nationally significant, Mr Mills said.
Mr Higgins rejected criticism of the job he and Ms Finocchiaro were doing and said he was focused on what mattered such as crime, jobs and the economy with a Sensis business survey on Tuesday showing confidence in the NT was the lowest in the nation.
When asked if it would be better to pool resources to make a weightier opposition of four to five MPs, he said he would not personally encourage them to come back.
