The Northern Territory election is not about popularity or niceness, but about who will make the hard decisions, the chief minister says, telling voters the Country Liberals have learned their lesson and will be more consultative if elected for a second term.
At the CLP campaign launch in Darwin on Sunday, 13 days out from the August 27 poll, Chief Minister Adam Giles acknowledged that his government's first term had "looked messy" and conceded it had made mistakes, saying it was most often criticised for disunity in its ranks and for selling the Territory Insurance Office and leasing Darwin Port for 99 years without a mandate.
Those were "necessary decisions" which had to be made quickly, he said, as he worked to get voters unhappy with the decisions back on board.
"Where we could have done better was to have listened to people, engaged in a conversation with the electorate before making these decisions," he said.
He told a crowd of about 150 party faithful that a re-elected CLP government would be "a government that will listen to and consult with Territorians, and fight with tenacity for the Territorians' best interests".
"We will listen, we will consult, we will decide and then we will act. We're already getting better at this," Mr Giles said.
He accused Labor of running a scare campaign threatening that the CLP will privatise PowerWater Corporation and promised that "under no circumstances" would his government do so.
"There will be no unpleasant surprises. That's because the tough decisions have been made, like TIO and the port," he said.
The CLP won government in a landslide in 2012, with 16 of 25 Legislative Assembly seats, but have since lost five MLAs who now sit as independents, having variously accused the government of racism, sexism and misogyny, and broken promises.
"As leader I take responsibility for any shortcomings in presenting a united front, but I think it's wrong for MPs or MLAs elected under one party to switch sides mid-term without facing voters," Mr Giles said.
With four MLAs of 11 retiring at the election, the CLP has been working to revamp its troubled image, stressing the newness of its candidates.
Mr Giles said the CLP was the best party to manage the NT economy and questioned the capability and experience of Opposition Leader Michael Gunner.
Mr Giles said despite a string of scandals, his had been "a pretty good government" whose focus had always been on the interests of Territorians.
"We can change our style, and we will, but we also must offer strong and decisive leadership or nothing gets done," he said.
"It's not a question of who you like, it's not a question of who seems the nicest, it's a question of who do you believe will make the tough decisions, keep businesses moving and manage the Territory finances well."
