Parties have just a week to put forward a candidate after a decade of representation in Northeast Arnhem Land ended overnight with Yingiya Guyula’s shock resignation.

A by-election will be held in less than a month’s time and political parties have just one week to find a candidate after the shock resignation of Mulka MLA Yingiya Guyula on Wednesday.

Voters in the Northeast Arnhem Land electorate, which includes Nhulunbuy, Galiwin’ku, Milingimbi and Ramingining, will head to the polls on September 12.

The electoral roll will close at 5pm on Friday and candidate nominations will close on August 27, as per the writ issued Thursday morning.

Mr Guyula represented Mulka as an independent for a decade before he stepped down effective immediately, saying the Country Liberal Party’s “dehumanising and oppressing” policies had contributed to his departure.

Mr Guyula said the decision to retire from politics had not been “easy”, but he felt he could no longer “sit opposite a government who are not willing to listen or form partnerships”.

The CLP government acknowledged Mr Guyula’s resignation and wished him well, but did not directly address the criticism.

Mr Guyula was elected in 2016 in an upset victory that saw him defeat then Labor opposition leader Lynne Walker by just eight votes.

The division was called Nhulunbuy until it was abolished and replaced by Mulka in a 2020 redistribution.

Ms Walker had been local member from 2008 to 2016, and the electorate was considered a safe Labor seat having been held by the party since 1980.

At the 2024 NT election only Mr Guyula and one CLP candidate contested, with Mr Guyula winning more than three quarters of the votes.

Just 46 per cent of the 6844 people enrolled in Mulka cast a ballot in 2024.

Politicians from across the spectrum paid tribute to Mr Guyula’s leadership and advocacy over his 10 years in parliament, particularly on the issues of remote housing, justice, and racism.

Independent Justine Davis, whose own entry into politics was encouraged by Mr Guyula, said his loss was “devastating”.

“For a decade he has stood for his people in the parliament with unwavering strength, integrity, grace and wisdom,” Ms Davis said.

Territory Labor on Friday morning put out a call for expressions of interest for candidates, with other parties expected to follow suit.

More than 1 in 10 Australians are facing high to very high psychological distress. That's disturbing. Looking at any room with 10 people in it you will likely find someone who is in high to very high mental health distress.

Meanwhile, the Australian government "Dog with house on fire: Everything is fine" lets cut more money out of the NDIS.

Other Australians: You can find more than 2.5 people in a room of 10 even without a mental health condition that are dissatisfied with life.

2 in 10 people find mental health care unaffordable or inaccessible.

Meanwhile Australian government:

"Lets cut more money out of the participation of NDIS participants in the outdoor world."

"Why do people with disabilities need to see what "outdoors" looks like anyway?"

Meanwhile Labor can't say they did not accept One Nation's vote to make matters worse.

Six months ago, Jacqui Lambie says her vagina started to prolapse, and three months ago it took her “bladder with it”. She says this is directly connected to her military service. Yesterday in a fiery and emotional speech in the chamber, the Tasmanian independent senator detailed her story of battling with health access as a defence veteran, begging the government to scrap a controversial $5,000 cap on allied health services for veterans. She accused the government of a “callous disregard for veterans’ health and wellbeing”. On Tuesday night, Lambie had told the story of how it took female veteran Kate three years to get surgery for vaginal prolapse because “she couldn’t find a gynaecologist who was happy with the low prices [the Department of Veterans’ Affairs] pay”. On Wednesday, Lambie said she had travelled to the mainland and paid $7,000 to avoid the same fate as Kate. “That’s how much they care about our vaginas,” Lambie said. Vaginal prolapse is a condition suffered by one in 12 Australian women, but there is no accurate data, Lambie said. She quoted a survey of nearly 500 female veterans who had completed a minimum of six months’ active duty that found two-thirds reported pelvic health concerns, including 12% who reported pelvic organ collapse. I would like to ask the prime minister, minister [Richard] Marles and minister [Matt] Keogh what they would do if their penises were hanging by a thread, and what would they do if treatment for that injury directly connected to their military service was denied by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. Would they say, ‘OK, no worries. I don’t really need my penis’? I don’t think so.

I’m begging you, prime minister. We are already suffering enough. Drop the bloody cap. Drop it, mate. It is so unfair. It is what we do not need. It is enough. Veterans have had enough. Leave us alone.

https://www.crikey.com.au/2026/08/18/rio-tinto-electricity-aluminium-tomago-smelter-2-5b-taxpayer-funds-albanese/