2001 Northern Territory general election

A general election was held in the Northern Territory, Australia, on 18 August 2001. The centre-left Labor Party (ALP), led by Clare Martin, won a surprising victory over the Country Liberal Party (CLP). Before this, the CLP had held 18 out the 25 seats in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly to the ALP's 7. After this election, the ALP held the majority with 13 seats to the CLP's 10, consigning the CLP to opposition for the first time since the Territory gained responsible government. Martin became Chief Minister, succeeding the CLP's Denis Burke.

2001 Northern Territory general election

← 1997 18 August 2001 (2001-08-18) 2005 →
All 25 seats of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	80.56 ( 1.57 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Clare Martin Denis Burke Party Labor Country Liberal Leader since 3 February 1999 8 February 1999 Leader's seat Fannie Bay Brennan Last election 7 seats 18 seats Seats won 13 10 Seat change 6 8 Popular vote 33,038 36,926 Percentage 40.6% 45.4% Swing 2.1 9.1 TPP 48.1% 51.9% TPP 6.0 6.0
Chief Minister before election Denis Burke Country Liberal Elected Chief Minister Clare Martin Labor

While the CLP won a bare majority of the two-party vote, Labor picked up an unexpectedly large swing in the Darwin area. Labor took all but one seat in the capital, including all seven seats in the northern part of the city. Darwin's northern suburbs are somewhat more diverse than the rest of the city, and were on paper friendlier to Labor than the rest of the capital. In the process, Labor unseated four sitting MLAs. The result was not known for several days, in part due to a very close race in Millner between CLP incumbent Phil Mitchell and Labor challenger Matthew Bonson. Ultimately, Bonson won by a margin of 82 votes, allowing Labor to win government by one seat.

Two independents won seats at this election. Former CLP member Loraine Braham won the seat of Braitling and Gerry Wood won the seat of Nelson.