Electoral division of Brennan

Brennan is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1990, and derives its name from Harold "Tiger" Brennan, a former member of the Legislative Council and Mayor of Darwin. Brennan includes both rural and urban areas, covering an area of 37.84 km² and encompassing the Palmerston suburbs of Bakewell and Farrar, as well as parts of Gray and Gunn. There were 4535 people enrolled in the electorate as of June 2005.

For most of its history, Brennan was considered a very safe seat for the Country Liberal Party, as until 2005, the Australian Labor Party had never won a seat anywhere in Palmerston in the history of the Assembly. The seat was the safest of all those held by the CLP after the 2001 election, and Opposition Leader Denis Burke was not expected to have any issue with re-election in the foreseeable future. However, in a shock result that had not been predicted by any prominent commentator, much less either candidate, Brennan fell to the ALP candidate, James Burke, at the 2005 election. CLP candidate Peter Chandler regained the seat at the 2008 election.

Members for Brennan

Member Party Term
  Max Ortmann Country Liberal 1990–1994
  Independent 1994–1994
  Denis Burke Country Liberal 1994–2005
  James Burke Labor 2005–2008
  Peter Chandler Country Liberal 2008–present

Election results

Northern Territory general election, 2008: Brennan
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Country Liberal Peter Chandler 2,009 52.6 +3.3
Labor James Burke 1,807 47.4 -3.3
Total formal votes 3,816 95.7 +1.0
Informal votes 170 4.3 -1.0
Turnout 3,986 80.3
Country Liberal gain from Labor Swing +3.3

External links