Electoral division of Nelson (Northern Territory)

Nelson Northern Territory—Legislative Assembly
Territory	Northern Territory
Created	1990
MP	Gerry Wood
Party	Independent
Namesake	H. G. Nelson
Electors	4,715 (2012)
Area	2,289 km2 (883.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

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 2,289 km² 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 4,715 people enrolled in the electorate as of August 2012.

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. He increased his vote by over 20% for the second election in a row in 2008, winning 72.2% of the primary vote with a two-party preferred margin of 28.7% over the CLP. This makes Nelson the safest seat in the Territory.

Members for Nelson

	Member	Party	Term
Template:Australian politics/party colours/Independent|	Noel Padgham-Purich	Independent	1990–1997
Template:Australian politics/party colours/CLP|	Chris Lugg	Country Liberal	1997–2001
Template:Australian politics/party colours/Independent|	Gerry Wood	Independent	2001–present

Election results

Northern Territory general election, 2012: Nelson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gerry Wood	1,988	54.0	−18.2
	Country Liberal	Judy Cole	1,436	39.0	+19.9
	Labor	Sharon McAlear	255	6.9	−1.7
Total formal votes			3,679	98.1	+0.5
Informal votes			72	1.9	−0.5
Turnout			3,751	79.6	+5.0
Two-party-preferred result
	Independent	Gerry Wood	2,177	59.2	−19.5
	Country Liberal	Judy Cole	1,502	40.8	+19.5
	Independent hold		Swing	−19.5

Northern Territory general election, 2008: Nelson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gerry Wood	2,436	72.2	+15.0
	Country Liberal	Maureen Kohlman	646	19.1	−11.5
	Labor	Justine Luders-Searle	292	8.7	−3.5
Total formal votes			3,374	97.6	−0.2
Informal votes			82	2.4	+0.2
Turnout			3,456	74.6
Two-party-preferred result
	Independent	Gerry Wood	2,654	78.7	+12.1
	Country Liberal	Maureen Kohlman	720	21.3	−12.1
	Independent hold		Swing	+12.1

External links

• Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
• ABC Elections page