Fannie Bay is an electoral division of the Legislative Assembly in Australia's Northern Territory. It is located in the inner northern suburbs of Darwin, with its current boundaries including the suburbs of Fannie Bay (from which it derives its name), Parap, East Point, The Narrows, The Gardens and parts of Stuart Park. It was first created in 1974, and is an entirely urban electorate, covering an area of 11 km². There were 6,126 people enrolled in the electorate as of July 2026.
History Fannie Bay has been an exception in Northern Territory politics, as it has tended to be neither marginal or safe for either party, with incumbent members of both parties having managed to easily hold the electorate for several years. This was illustrated in 1995, when Country Liberal Party incumbent Marshall Perron, the Territory's second longest-tenured head of government, retired from politics, only to be replaced by the Labor Party's Clare Martin. Six years later, Martin herself became Chief Minister while still representing the electorate. Martin resigned as Chief Minister in 2007, and retired at the 2008 election. Michael Gunner narrowly retained the seat for Labor, and went on to become Opposition Leader in 2015. He led Territory Labor to a record victory in 2016, becoming the third person to become Chief Minister while holding Fannie Bay.
On 27 July 2022, Michael Gunner announced his resignation from politics as the Member for Fannie Bay, triggering a by-election in the seat to be held on 20 August 2022. Brent Potter won the by-election. At the 2024 election, Potter was defeated by Country Liberal candidate Laurie Zio, having fallen to third place behind both Zio and Greens candidate Suki Dorras-Walker. However, he won the two-party-preferred count against Zio, meaning that, had 54 Greens voters instead first-preferenced Labor, Dorras-Walker would have placed third, and Potter would have been re-elected. This phenomenon has been nicknamed the Fannie Bay effect.
Members for Fannie Bay MemberPartyTerm Grant Tambling Country Liberal 1974–1977 Pam O'Neil Labor 1977–1983 Marshall Perron Country Liberal 1983–1995 Clare Martin Labor 1995–2008 Michael Gunner Labor 2008–2022 Brent Potter Labor 2022–2024 Laurie Zio Country Liberal 2024–present
Election results
Notes
References
External links Division profile from the Northern Territory Electoral Commission