Who'll be driving the NT after weekend election?

By Naomi Selvaratnam, SBS Radio News

Among the key issues at this year's election will be Indigenous affairs.

Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, is hoping to lead the Labor Party to a fourth term in office in Saturday's election.

But Labor only needs to lose one seat for the Country Liberal Party, led by Terry Mills, to form government.

Lecturer in law at Charles Darwin University, and former Labor Party member, Ken Parish says the result is difficult to predict.

"I expect the NT election result to be extremely close, certainly that's what the polls are indicating and what other political pundits are saying. But the smart money appears to be suggesting that there's a probability of a narrow CLP victory. That's a long way from certain though, so it's going to be a very interesting polling night."

A National Indigenous Television (NITV) election forum held in the lead-up to this weekend's vote featured Labor and Country Liberal Party candidates.

Rowan Foley is standing for Labor in the Alice Springs seat of Greatorex .

He says the Country Liberal Party does not have a sound economic policy, and would be likely to cut funding to Aboriginal services.

"They have to find the money to fill a two-billion dollar budget black hole and we all know that black fellas get the cut when the government needs to find money. Historically a Conservative government will always cut funding to Aboriginal programs first. In Queensland we've seen it, in New South Wales we've seen it, in Victoria we've seen it. So all the public sector funding that is now going towards Aboriginal services, Aboriginal housing, Aboriginal people, that's now in jeopardy because there is a budget black hole."

However, Country Liberal Party spokesman on Indigenous affairs, Adam Giles, says his party's priority is to improve funding and services for Indigenous Australians.

"We are going to run a model of decentralisation where we want to give voice back to people. Now that's a cliche from the outset but in fact that actually means that we are going to see tangible results through the changes that we want to make to local government structure by putting in place regional councils and getting investment back into those local communities. I've said we're going to put money into homelands and outstations. We are committing to run an economic regime where we want to see development, we want to see local jobs."

Inevitably, federal policies are again major factors in the Territory election.

Among these is the Federal Government-imposed Northern Territory Intervention.

A resident in Darwin told NITV the intervention has taken power away from Indigenous communities, and that the new Territory government should aim to get this control back.

"Having more determination happen at a local level has actually been a good thing. But making sure it stays there. With the intervention, some of that has been taken away. If we were to make sure that whatever happens with whatever government, is that that is taken back and put into the hands of the local people for them to turn around and actually say they want what they want, and not just what they're given."

Ken Parish, from Charles Darwin University, says key seats in the northern suburbs of Darwin have determined the results in previous elections.

But he says that may not be the case this time.

"Certainly for the last two or three elections the results have turned on the urban seats in Darwin, Alice Springs seats have been overwhelmingly Country Liberal for as long as anybody can remember. Bush seats tend to be pretty stable. The one possible exception to that rule this time is the bush seat of Arafura centred on the Tiwi Islands, where Labor is losing its incumbent member, Marion Scrymgour, and it's said that quite a few of the senior elders with the Tiwi Land Council are backing the Country Liberals' candidate. Now whether that will make enough difference is really hard to tell. But certainly I would be marking Arafura as one to watch."

Other key issues to surface during the election campaign have included law and order, alcohol restrictions, home loan assistance schemes - and whether the Territory should open itself up to foreign game shooters, as another revenue source from its naturally occurring crocodile population.