The NT Greens have long wished to become a third force in Territory politics, but it's still the only jurisdiction in the country where they've never held a seat. The party is trying to remain optimistic heading into the election, pointing to a quadrupling of its membership and a record 11 candidates running across the Territory.
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00:00From federal parliament to local governments, the Greens have established a presence at
00:06every level of Australian politics, except, that is, for the NT.
00:11The Greens have really struggled to win seats in their Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
00:17and have never won any seats there to date.
00:20With just over a week until polls close, experts remain sceptical the party can break through
00:25in any of the Territory's 25 electorates.
00:29Part of that is because the electoral system in the NT only elects one person per seat.
00:36The Greens vote will increase a little bit, but I think the central issue for most voters
00:43is who's going to form the government and the Greens don't figure in that calculation.
00:49That's despite the party running a record number of candidates and claiming a boost
00:54to its membership.
00:55So we have 100 volunteers involved in the campaign, we're door knocking almost every
00:59night.
01:00There's a real momentum to the campaign, we've done actually, we're almost about to finish
01:03our third lap of Fanny Bay.
01:06The Greens candidate for Fanny Bay saying voters are galvanising in opposition to both
01:11Labor and the country Liberals' support of the gas industry.
01:15One former Labor volunteer, who is now campaigning for the Greens, agrees.
01:20I was previously a member of the Labor party for three years, in WA and up here, and I
01:26think I just got to the point where I could not be a member of that organisation anymore.
01:31They didn't reflect my values at all.
01:33The Greens will argue that they're in with a real shot in electorates like Fanny Bay,
01:37where voters may be more concerned about issues like the environment and housing affordability.
01:42But their candidates aren't deaf to concerns around crime, which has so far been the dominant
01:48issue during this year's election campaign.
01:50People are feeling more unsafe than ever, they tell me, and that's across all walks
01:55of life.
01:56It's definitely something that's raised with me a lot.
01:59Despite persistent doubts, the party says they are offering a real alternative.
02:04If they don't score a breakthrough this election, the Greens will have to continue their advocacy
02:10from the sidelines.