Arabic version: حزب العمال يحتفل بفوز مولكا ويواجه اختبار الثقة

According to ABC News, registered nurse and Yolŋu man Yiwarr McGrath has won the Mulka by-election in remote north-east Arnhem Land, replacing retired independent MLA Yiŋiya Guyula. With 36.2 per cent of votes counted, Labor had 77.5 per cent of first preferences, comfortably ahead of independent challenger Andrew Blamey.

McGrath, a 35-year-old father of three, health professional and former NT Young Australian of the Year, said he would bring his lived experience to parliament. He told the ABC he grew up in poverty in the electorate as “an orphan child … not knowing when the next meal is”, and wants to influence policy for people in the region. Australian Bureau of Statistics data places east Arnhem Land among Australia’s 10 most disadvantaged local government areas.

The result lifts NT Labor to six seats and returns Mulka, formerly called Nhulunbuy, to the party that held it from 1980 to 2016. Opposition Leader Selena Uibo called the result a major boost for Labor and said the party wanted to demonstrate it had learned from the past and could become “a strong alternative government come 2028”. Labor’s six-member caucus will face the Country Liberal Party government’s 17-seat majority.

However, the by-election also removes an independent crossbench voice after Guyula’s retirement. Blamey had argued that the major parties had let the region down and were too focused on electoral cycles. Labor is also still developing its policy platform for 2028 after its 2024 general-election losses in Darwin and Palmerston, where voters punished the party over high crime rates and the territory’s economy. The party must now seek to rebuild trust beyond its Mulka victory.