Leader of the Opposition (Northern Territory)

The leader of the opposition is an official role usually occupied by the leader of the second largest party in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. In the event that party wins an election, the leader of the opposition will most likely become the chief minister.^[1]

While the Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, there was no parliamentary opposition for the first three-year term, as every seat was held by the government, with the exception of two that were won by independents.

Even though the leader of the government between 1974 and 1978 was known as majority leader, the position of leader of the opposition was always named as such for the leader of the opposing party and never as minority leader.

#	Opposition Leader[2]	Party		Dates in Opposition
1	Jon Isaacs		Labor	21 September 1977 – 1 November 1981
2	Bob Collins		Labor	2 November 1981 – 18 August 1986
3	Terry Smith		Labor	19 August 1986 – 1 November 1990
4	Brian Ede		Labor	2 November 1990 – 9 April 1996
5	Maggie Hickey		Labor	16 April 1996 – 2 February 1999
6	Clare Martin		Labor	3 February 1999 – 26 August 2001
7	Denis Burke		Country Liberal	28 August 2001 – 14 November 2003
8	Terry Mills		Country Liberal	15 November 2003 – 4 February 2005
(7)	Denis Burke		Country Liberal	7 February 2005 – 17 June 2005
9	Jodeen Carney		Country Liberal	29 June 2005 – 28 January 2008
(8)	Terry Mills		Country Liberal	29 January 2008 – 29 August 2012
10	Delia Lawrie		Labor	29 August 2012 – 20 April 2015
11	Michael Gunner		Labor	20 April 2015 – 31 August 2016
12	Gary Higgins		Country Liberal	2 September 2016 – 1 February 2020
13	Lia Finocchiaro		Country Liberal	1 February 2020 – 18 March 2020
	Disputed			18 March 2020 – 24 March 2020
(13)	Lia Finocchiaro		Country Liberal	24 March 2020 – 28 August 2024
14	Selena Uibo		Labor	3 September 2024 - present

2020 opposition leadership dispute

On 18 March 2020 Terry Mills claimed to have become Opposition Leader on the basis of the Territory Alliance now having three MLAs to the Country Liberal Party's two.^[3] No motion acknowledging a change in the office was passed by the Assembly. On 24 March 2020 Mills presented a shadow Cabinet to the Assembly and was initially referred to as leader of the opposition, without formal motion. However, later that day Lia Finocchiaro moved that the office of leader of the opposition be declared vacant as it was "unclear" who the "official opposition" was, and that a secret ballot between the two be held to determine Opposition Leader status. The motion was passed and Finocchiaro won the ballot 5–3,^[4] with Labor MLAs present not voting.^[5]