Karama is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It was first created in 1987, and derives its name from the suburb of the same name. It is an urban electorate, covering only 3.38 km² and taking in the Darwin suburbs of Karama and Malak. There were 4318 people enrolled within the electorate as of June 2005.
The Country Liberal Party's Mick Palmer won the seat in 1987, and as the incumbent member during the height of the CLP's dominance of Territory politics, had little trouble holding the seat through the next three elections. Until the 2000s, it was almost unheard of for a sitting member to be defeated, so few thought Palmer would face much difficulty gaining a fourth term at the 2001 election. However, the Australian Labor Party swept through the northern suburbs of Darwin and Palmer was unexpectedly defeated by the ALP candidate, Delia Lawrie, the daughter of former long-serving independent MP Dawn Lawrie. Lawrie's victory created the first mother-daughter political dynasty in Australian politics, and she soon established herself in the electorate. She was easily re-elected at the 2005 election, significantly increasing her majority.
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mick Palmer | Country Liberal | 1987–2001 | |
| Delia Lawrie | Labor | 2001–present | |
| Northern Territory general election, 2008: Karama | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | Delia Lawrie | 2,234 | 56.1 | -9.5 | |
| Country Liberal | Tony Bacus | 1,398 | 35.1 | +1.5 | |
| Independent | Natalie Hunter | 192 | 4.8 | +4.8 | |
| Independent | Dorothy Fox | 156 | 3.9 | +3.9 | |
| Total formal votes | 3,980 | 96.0 | +1.0 | ||
| Informal votes | 167 | 4.0 | -1.0 | ||
| Turnout | 4,147 | 84.0 | |||
| Two-candidate preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Delia Lawrie | 2,420 | 60.8 | -5.2 | |
| Country Liberal | Tony Bacus | 1,560 | 39.2 | +5.2 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | -5.2 | |||
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