Electoral division of Nelson (Northern Territory)
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Nelson is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1990, and was named after Harold Nelson, the first member for the federal Northern Territory electorate. Nelson is a largely rural electorate, covering 197.49 sq km and taking in the small towns of Howard Springs, McMinn's Lagoon and part of Humpty Doo, and some areas between Darwin and Palmerston. There were 4628 people enrolled in the electorate as of June 2005.
Nelson is also a rarity among Northern Territory electorates in that it has traditionally been an independent-held seat, as opposed to being held by either of the major parties. Long-serving independent Noel Padgham-Purich held the seat for the last few years of her career, and only narrowly failed in installing another independent, Dave Tollner, as her replacement. After four years of Country Liberal Party control under Chris Lugg, another independent candidate, Gerry Wood, was successful in winning the seat. Wood was easily re-elected at the 2005 election, polling more than double the vote of his nearest rival, Lugg.
[edit] Members for Nelson
- Noel Padgham-Purich (Independent) (1990-1997)
- Chris Lugg (Country Liberal Party) (1997-2001)
- Gerry Wood (Independent) (2001-present)
