Monday, 15 October, 2007

by NICK CALACOURAS
NT News

The campaign is already getting personal, with candidates shifting straight into attack mode, labelling each other untrustworthy and incompetent in their dash to get to Canberra.

As predicted by the Sunday Territorian yesterday, Prime Minister John Howard called the Federal poll for November 24.

CLP Senator Nigel Scullion said the Government could still win a fifth term -- despite trailing behind Labor by up to 18 points in the polls.

"I've got a great deal of faith in the people,'' he said.

"In the quiet darkness, with a pencil in their hand, they'll think of who will do the best for them.''

Senator Scullion welcomed the battle ahead -- including being a target of environmentalists over his nuclear waste-dump backflip.

"Bring it on,'' he said. "If the Greens want to go after me, good on them.''

Labor Member for Lingiari Warren Snowdon said Senator Scullion had lost all credibility with the electorate.

"This is the guy who said there would be no waste dump -- he told us `not on my watch','' he said.

"You can't believe what he says.''

Mr Snowdon said he was not concerned about unpopular Labor sentiment in remote areas from the Territory Government's local government reform because the community could discriminate between the different levels of government.

He said the hot button issues would be the Commonwealth's intervention in communities, the scrapping of CDEP and blanket alcohol bans.

"They have some very ill-thought-out policies affecting the Territory,'' he said.

CLP Lingiari candidate Adam Giles said people had complained to him that Mr Snowdon had provided "18 years of nothing''.

"People do not want the States, territories and the Commonwealth to be all Labor,'' he said. "People are afraid of that, and they should be''.

Solomon MHR David Tollner said he had been waiting for the official campaign to start.

"I'm all keen to go _ I'm ready to roll,'' he said.

He said his focus for Darwin would be the breakdown of law and order.

"I know this is usually a Territory responsibility, but there are things we can do to augment services,'' he said.

Labor Solomon candidate and former football coach Damian Hale said this campaign would be a "hard slog'' against a "desperate'' Government.

"I've been involved with many grand finals, but this is going to be the biggest fight of my life,'' he said.