A general election was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday August 30, 1997, and was won by the incumbent Country Liberal Party (CLP).

Quick Facts All 25 seats of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

1997 Northern Territory general election

← 1994 30 August 1997 (1997-08-30) 2001 →
All 25 seats of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.0 ( 1.7 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Shane Stone Maggie Hickey Party Country Liberal Labor Leader since 26 May 1995 16 April 1996 Leader's seat Port Darwin Barkly Last election 17 seats 7 seats Seats before 16 8 Seats won 18 7 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 41,722 29,365 Percentage 54.5% 38.5% Swing 2.6 2.9 TPP 57.9% 42.1% TPP 1.6 1.6
Chief Minister before election Shane Stone Country Liberal Elected Chief Minister Shane Stone Country Liberal

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Shane Stone continued as Chief Minister.

During the previous term, the CLP had lost the seat of Fannie Bay to Labor in a by-election. The CLP did not win the seat back, but managed to take MacDonnell from Labor and Nelson after Independent Noel Padgham-Purich retired.

Sitting members are listed in bold. Successful candidates are highlighted in the relevant colour.

The following pendulum is known as the Mackerras pendulum, invented by psephologist Malcolm Mackerras. The pendulum works by lining up all of the seats held in the Legislative Assembly according to the percentage point margin they are held by on a two-party-preferred basis. This is also known as the swing required for the seat to change hands. Given a uniform swing to the opposition or government parties, the number of seats that change hands can be predicted.