The Greens have announced the party’s first four candidates for the August NT general election, contesting the seats of Nightcliff, Fannie Bay, Araluen and Braitling.

Party manager Sib Hare Breidahl said Kat McNamara was pre-selected to contest the seat of Nightcliff, Suki Dorras-Walker will contest Fannie Bay, Peltherre Chris Tomlins will contest Araluen, and Asta Hill will contest Braitling.

“The appetite for real, progressive representation has never been bigger amongst Territorians,” Ms Hare Breidah said.

“Both old parties have been tangled in scandals for months, and don’t have a clear path to either gain or retain majority government at this election.”

Ms McNamara, a former telecommunications rigger who has completed a bachelor in environmental science, is taking on the disgraced former Labor Chief Minister Natasha Fyles who retained the seat in 2020 with 53.2 per cent of the first preferences vote, while The Greens candidate secured 18.6 per cent, and the CLP’s Steve Doherty won 18.9 per cent of the vote.

“The climate crisis is a threat to everyone’s future, and in the Territory, we’re pouring fuel on the fire by allowing new fossil fuel projects to open,” she said.

“We’re subsiding big corporations to make a quick buck out of the climate crisis. Meanwhile, the NT’s livability is in danger from expanding wealth inequality and the cost of living. Imagine if we spent that money on free childcare, more public housing and strengthening the public services we all rely on,” she said.

“Corporate interests have a stranglehold on our government and it needs to end.”

Ms Dorras-Walker has worked as a public school teacher for ten years, is now studying law, and came close to winning the Lyons Ward by-election for Darwin Council in September last year.

She is running against Police Minister Brent Potter, who was a former senior policy advisor to Ms Fyles and was is her former chief of staff’s brother-in-law. He was Ms Fyles’s pick to run in the seat in the 2022 by-election after another former Labor chief minister Michael Gunner left parliament and vacated the seat.

Mr Potter received 32.5 per cent of the primary vote, while the CLP’s Ben Hosking received 41.4 percent, and The Greens Jonathon Parry 19.9 per cent.

“We deserve representatives who act in the best interest of the community and who will clean up the mess the CLP and the Labor party have made,” she said.

“I’m tired of seeing the old parties put the gas industry first while our children face an unsafe climate.

“Big corporations shouldn’t be making huge profits while people are struggling with rising cost of living. I will put people first. It’s time to make decisions that benefit Territorians instead of gas companies.

Peltherre Chris Tomlins is an Arrernte and Warlpiri elder who said he grew up in the East Side of the town when it was parallel to apartheid conditions, and he wants attitudes in the whole of Alice Springs to change.

He is running against incumbent independent Robyn Lambley who received only 29.2 per cent of the primary vote in the 2020 election but ended up winning the seat against CLP candidate and former Alice Springs Town Council mayor Damien Ryan by 1 per cent. The Greens received 10 per cent of the primary vote.

Mr Tomlins is the co-founder of the Bonnet Series, which is a program where participants with trade experience are invited by elders on community, and are taught by volunteers with long term trade skills and experience.

“We must prioritise connection with country for our kids and stop them from being caught up in the criminal justice system in the first place,” he said.

“We need to build a community that makes all of our kids feel safe and looked after. To have a safe and vibrant community, everyone has to play their part. Connection to and protection of country are the same thing.

“Fracking in the NT must not go ahead. For the protection of our water, land and future generations we need to be working towards a sustainable, renewable energy future that will allow us to continue to live here for many generations to come.”

Asta Hill, who was born and raised in Alice springs, has worked as a lawyer for seven years with the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission, and before that she worked for a year at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Ms Hill is running against CLP incumbent Joshua Burgoyne who polled 35.2 per cent of the primary vote in 2020, and defeated Labor Minister Dale Wakefield who polled 22.6 per cent of the vote. The Greens candidate, who polled 8.6 per cent of the vote, was Mr Tomlins.

“I want this town to be a safe place for my kids to grow up. A strong community, safe from crime and from the effects of climate change,” she said.

“The major parties have ripped us off, putting gas corporations first by expanding the industry in a climate and extinction crisis.

“They’ve put themselves first with law and order campaigns that are more about getting elected than protecting our communities.”

Editor’s note. In a previous version of this article Sib Hare Breidahl and Asta Hill’s names were spelt incorrectly. We apologise for the error.