As the final day of counting wraps up for the Northern Territory election it is clear Labor has been dealt another blow, with former chief minister Natasha Fyles losing her critical northern suburb seat to the Greens.
It is a second blow to the Labor leadership, after Chief Minister Eva Lawler failed to retain Drysdale, a seat in the satellite city of Palmerston, which became Country Liberal Party heartland.
The loss leaves Labor with just four seats in the NT parliament, their worst performance in Territory history, and they've also lost the political experience of senior party leaders.
The Greens claimed their first seat in the NT parliament after a three-way count put them ahead of Labor.
The appointment of Member for Arnhem, Selena Uibo, as opposition leader earlier this week made history as she is the first Aboriginal woman to lead a major party in Australia.
She will lead an all First Nations caucus through the next four years, where her work with at least three of the four independents on the cross bench will be critical.
Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley hails from the Country Liberal Party, and traditionally voted with them in the last term when she defected to become an independent.
Greens candidate Kat McNamara said issues on climate and crime were the undoing of her opposition, and the Greens had quadrupled their membership over the past 18 months.
The electorate was "looking for change" she said, after Ms Fyles green-lit fracking in the Northern Territory in May 2023.
Last year, while she was the chief minister, Ms Fyles referred to the environmentalist movement, many of whom hailed from her own constituency, as "teals and trolls" at a National Press Club address in Canberra.
The move to allow fracking effectively made space for progressive independents and the Greens.
"The people of Nightcliff have voted because they do not want to see fracking, they are concerned about the impacts to our climate, to longevity of health and environment, to our air and water," Ms McNamara said.
New Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has attended her first National Cabinet where she was expected to advocate for needs-based domestic and family violence funding in the Northern Territory.
Despite being elected on a mandate of addressing crime in the NT, of which domestic violence makes up more than 80 per cent of police workloada, Ms Finocchiaro's "Plan for Territory" policy documents made no mention of domestic or family violence.
Both Labor and the Country Liberal Party committed $180 million for domestic and family violence over five years during the election, but little detail was ever revealed on where those funds would be allocated.
Now Ms Finocchiaro's leadership has come under fire from critics who say more punitive approaches to domestic violence are "ignorant of the domestic, sexual and family violence context"
Domestic and family violence researcher, Dr Chay Brown, who is based in Alice Springs, said banging on about locking people up is ignoring the fact most people never report such violence.
"For an incoming government who claims to be making DV a priority, to not even bother to meet with the specialist sector ahead of national cabinet, its pretty ordinary."
"Barely two weeks in and the facade of concern about community safety is already cracking."
Ms Finocchiaro said she would push for needs-based funding for the NT, as the rate of domestic violence and assaults soared in comparison to other states and territories.
"The need is profound," she told ABC Radio.
