[Audio: Senators arriving to Parliament House]

Ann Arnold: The Palmer United Party senators emerged from the fog outside Canberra's Parliament House last week to begin work. It was a world away from where the PUP's newest branch has sprouted.

Alison Anderson: [Talking on the phone in an Aboriginal language]

Ann Arnold: On the terrace of Darwin's palatial Parliament House, near a water fountain and overlooking the Timor Sea, Clive Palmer's new political leader in the Territory is on the phone.

As Clive Palmer's power battle is played out federally in the new Senate, another is underway in the Northern Territory. And Alison Anderson, the PUP leader there, is at the heart of it.

Alison Anderson: I walked out of the Labor Party, I was a Labor Minister, and walked out. And you've seen me now as a Liberal minister walk out of the Country Liberal Party.

Ann Arnold: When Alison Anderson walked out of not one but two governing parties in the Northern Territory, it caused turmoil each time, and put each government in a perilous position. This year, Alison Anderson kept on walking, ending up with Clive Palmer's Palmer United Party.

Palmer told Background Briefing he will be a national advocate for the Northern Territory group's largely Aboriginal interests.

Clive Palmer: We're very concerned about what's happening in the Territory and highlighting this for all Australians. And we won't neglect to do that during our program.

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson is joined in the PUP by two Indigenous colleagues, both first-time politicians. Larisa Lee said she was disillusioned by the Country Liberal Party's efforts for Aboriginal people.

Larisa Lee: And that's where they lost me. You know, because they came in saying, oh, this is going to change, we're going to do this, we're going to help you, support you, but you know what's out there best for the people. Yes, we do know what's best for the people, we do know what needs to be changed, but the government is not real about it.

Ann Arnold: Like Larisa Lee, Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu had been elected as a Country Liberal Party member in 2012. He also thought more would happen faster.

Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu: Well, there's no support for the communities, my constituents particularly. Education and housing, outstations. Because a lot of people in outstations are saying what's happening, there is no services delivered in our outstation.

Ann Arnold: What could Clive Palmer offer, then? And what's in it for him?

In April, Alison Anderson contacted Palmer. He sent his plane to Alice Springs to collect her, and she flew to Palmer's Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast for a meeting. Alison Anderson pitched some mutually beneficial power sharing.

Alison Anderson: Look I think some of the things I said to him was that he could be a great ambassador to the Northern Territory. He could have the Northern Territory parliament literally forever if he did the right things.

Ann Arnold: What do you mean he could have the Northern Territory parliament? In what sense?

Alison Anderson: That he could have the balance of power here if he really wanted to.

Ann Arnold: The CLP government's hold on power is now vulnerable, having lost those three members. The Parliament comprises 13 CLP members, that's a majority of one. There are eight Labor, one independent, and the three very disaffected Palmer United Party members.

Alison Anderson also believes that from Canberra, Clive Palmer can wield influence in the Territory. He seems to agree. This was Palmer on Darwin ABC radio in April:

Clive Palmer: There are certain advantages having us in the balance of power in Canberra, and the Federal government plays a key role in the development of the Northern Territory. I think Alison's a shrewd person, aware of that, and I think that's why they approached us.

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson wants a say in the Federal sphere about land rights, Aboriginal health, and development. She hopes that will happen through Clive Palmer.

Alison Anderson: Let's realise that we are more than 36% of the Territory's population. We own more than 50% of the land mass, under land rights, and we can call on the other 48% under native title, which is the pastoral land. When you're talking about developing the north, we have to be key partners.

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson has a long history of broken political relationships. When the three Aboriginal members walked from the CLP, it was from a conservative government led for the first time ever by an Aboriginal Chief Minister, Adam Giles. It was an extraordinary moment in Indigenous politics. The falling out has been bitter, and personal. Adam Giles.

Adam Giles: Clive has bitten off more than he can chew by putting his neck out in the Northern Territory. I must say I did have a sly grin on my face when he tried to put his nose into the Northern Territory, because I think he's just lost a lot of vote by picking up some of the members that he's picked up in the Northern Territory.

Ann Arnold: It's Alison Anderson, a veteran politician and a former confidante, that Giles is most angry about.

Adam Giles: She was one of the nine cabinet members who had an opportunity of driving change in the Northern Territory. Couldn't do it. And it's not the first time. Was a Minister in the Labor government, couldn't do it, couldn't hack the pace, couldn't hack the challenges. You've got to be tough to be a cabinet minister. If you want to drive change for your people you be in the tent and you try and drive that reform, don't be out of the tent and bitch and moan.

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson is from the Central Desert, and Chief Minister Adam Giles is from New South Wales. She sees him as an outsider who doesn't represent Territory Aboriginals.

Alison Anderson: It's completely and totally different for a bloke to come from the Blue Mountains of New South Wales or from Sydney and be an Aboriginal person in the Northern Territory. It's not the same as the blackfellas like us that are born and bred in the Northern Territory, have lined up for rations at ration depots, lived in humpies, born down the creek, went to school in the Aboriginal communities. We know the struggles of our people, we've marched for land rights, we've demonstrated against failure of governments to educate our children properly. And we'll continue to fight for these people.

Ann Arnold: You used to think more highly of him though, Adam Giles, the chief minister. I've seen a photograph of you and he standing on a road together looking like very good mates.

Alison Anderson: Yeah, I think we go back a long way. We started off in Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Commission. He was a middle-ranking bureaucrat in Canberra when I was an ATSIC Commissioner. I think luck turned his way when he come to live in Alice Springs, and that's all that happened to that man, he got lucky.

Ann Arnold: Even without this kind of antagonism between these two leaders, it's a challenge for any politician to advance the cause of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory.

Darwin is a city under transformation. There's a building boom, prompted by giant new gas plants. Not everyone is benefitting.

Gerry Wood: I'm not saying it's a deliberate divide, in the sense that some things happen in life, but you've got the big development in Darwin, like Inpex and ConocoPhillips.

Ann Arnold: Gerry Wood has been an independent member of the Northern Territory legislative assembly for 13 years.

Gerry Wood: You've got these big developments occurring here and people on high wages, and then you go out bush and you see people living in fairly basic conditions and on low wages and unemployed. So I see this divide where we have wealth being created in the north, or in the Darwin region, but it's not shared.

Ann Arnold: Darwin is teeming with mining and building workers, many of them young travellers. At night, the bars on Mitchell Street are packed. Some groups of drinkers are not in the bars.

Woman: Would you be making a statement, Minister?

Man: I will be, yes, thank you very much. This government is giving local communities back their voice which was taken away from them by the former Labor government…

Ann Arnold: Something historic happened in the 2012 Northern Territory election. The Country Liberal Party was brought to power on the strength of the Aboriginal vote. The largely Aboriginal bush seats, as they're known, have traditionally been held by Labor.

Aboriginal candidates starred. Bess Price won her western seat of Stuart for the CLP and remains a minister in the government. The three current Palmer United politicians were also crucial.

Alison Anderson easily won the southern-most seat of Namatjira for the CLP, having previously held it for Labor. Larisa Lee had a 30% swing in Arnhem, east of Katherine. And Tiwi Islander Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu took Arafura, which covers the Tiwis and Kakadu on the mainland.

But, after 20 months in office, they quit the party.

Alison Anderson.

Alison Anderson: The first time in political history that Aboriginal people had elected a conservative government or any government to the Northern Territory parliament, two years ago.

Ann Arnold: You mean the first time it was the Aboriginal voters, the numbers of voters that determined the outcome.

Alison Anderson: Absolutely! And two years ago the Country Liberal Party formed government with the five bush seats as the key foundation of them winning government. They promised Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory the world, and gave them nothing.

…look at that fat leg, you're gorgeous!

Ann Arnold: Like any good politician, Alison Anderson can charm a baby. This one was in Darwin's Parliament House cafe.

Out on the terrace, the Palmer United Party members gather at a table looking across the manicured speakers lawn. After chatting for a while, Alison Anderson starts to sing.

Alison Anderson: [Singing] Just singing to say; make sure you listen to us, us good humble people.

Ann Arnold: Born at Haast's Bluff, near her community at Papunya, west of Alice Springs, Anderson speaks six Aboriginal languages. She walks in two worlds, a phrase she often uses. Politically, it's invaluable. Her admirers have included the Prime Minister, who tried to lure her into Federal politics.

Tony Abbott [archival]: The marvellous and charismatic and inspirational Alison Anderson who is quite simply one of the most striking human beings who has ever been my pleasure and privilege to meet.

Ann Arnold: Back on the terrace at Parliament House, the Palmer United trio are working out their day. Upstairs, Estimates hearings are underway.

Alison Anderson: We are going to more of this…housing's on directly after this, I just need to pop back in for housing for…Barunga housing, ask them what they are doing with that. We need to ask them like why there are so many empty houses too and why they taking a long to do repairs and maintenance.

Larisa Lee: And why is Territory Housing charging Aboriginal families so much when they already on just Centrelink payments they can't even afford.

Ann Arnold: The PUP members have not been given a seat at Estimates. So independent Gerry Wood is sharing his.

Ann Arnold: You're able to talk to me right now because you've given your spot on the Estimates committee to Alison Anderson. Why do you do that?

Gerry Wood: Regardless of whether I think PUP is a good party or a bad party, to me is irrelevant. We are all members of Parliament, we all represent the people of the Northern Territory in our electorate, so I think trying to squeeze them out of that process just because you don't like them or because the government wants to extract a bit of revenge because they were rebel MLAs, you know, I don't think it should be a cause to stop them from being part of the Estimates.

Ann Arnold: Nonetheless, Gerry Wood believes the PUP trio could have achieved more if they had stayed in the government.

Gerry Wood: We have a Parliamentary Accounts Committee that will soon look at some of the contracts that have been handed out for repairs and maintenance and management of Indigenous housing in remote communities. This is one of the issues that was raised, and we might be able to see whether it is the case in the case of housing, whether the government is or isn't doing the right thing. But that's the way I would've approached it, rather than saying, well, you know, 'We're going to pull the pin.'

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson and her colleagues had walked out of the government after a series of rows about leadership, commitment to Aboriginal constituents, and allegations of racism.

But how much influence could you have, how much real power if you're not in either of those major parties?

Alison Anderson: Look I don't think we ever cared about the power. If you have a look at my history in politics, I walked out of both governments. I was ministers in both governments. I was never about power. I'm about having the voice for people. We gotta go back to sticking up for the poorest people in the Northern Territory.

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson's critics say she has lived well as a leader for decades while her home community of Papunya has among the lowest living standards in the country. Adam Giles, the Chief Minister, is one of those critics.

Alison Anderson: He's come out publically and said I'm responsible for the disadvantage in my electorate. Who's responsible for the policies that allowed me to line up at ration depots and not live inside a house, and humpies? You know, this is the failure of governments past and present that we are living in. And he's the chief minister and he can't blame anyone else.

Ann Arnold: Are there particular achievements that you can point to?

Alison Anderson: Look, yeah, Telstra lines to get access to 3G mobile on communities. Housing on communities. Roads. There's lots of achievements, but he'll deny all that.

Ann Arnold: And was this under Labor or the CLP?

Alison Anderson: Both.

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson believes her 'bush bloc', as they call themselves, will have significant influence.

Alison Anderson: We might only be three but we have the loudest voices for our people in this Parliament.

Ann Arnold: You're quite close you three. What do you call these other two?

Alison Anderson: 'Old Man' and 'Wija', yes, and we're very, very close. We're tribally linked to each other because we are Aboriginal people from the grassroots. And Francis and I, Old Man and I are nearly the similar age, I'm four years older than Old Man, and 26 years senior to my young sister Wija here. She is going to be a fantastic leader for the future generation of Territorians, I can tell you that now.

Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu: And if you look at the three of us, we are three different cultures.

Larisa Lee: So you've got central Australia, Arnhem Land and then Tiwi. I call him Old Man as a sign of respect, because he's an elder of mine. Alison, as being a senior of mine, I have to show the same courtesy. When she growls at me I can't back-answer her, same as Old Man.

Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu: And that's what you call dialogue. With three cultures, and that's what you call dialogue.

Ann Arnold: The three also have good relationships with individual politicians in both the CLP and Labor. But it's been a rocky start to political life for the two newcomers.

Larisa Lee was a health educator when the CLP and some of her elders came calling.

Larisa Lee: So they all got together and said Larisa is probably the best person. If there's anybody to win the seat it'll be her because she's related throughout the whole seat.

Ann Arnold: She consulted her family.

Larisa Lee: I said, well, this is going to be a life-changer, I'm never going to have a normal life again, so you all understand that, are you happy to put me on the stand? They said yeah, yeah, we'll support you.

Ann Arnold: In fact Larisa would be put on the stand very quickly. Last year her brother Preston Lee, the CEO of the Jawoyn Association which represents traditional owners, was accused of misappropriating funds. And Larisa Lee has now paid back Jawoyn funds which she used for her election campaign.

Last month Larisa Lee pleaded guilty to assault after a fight with her niece in the main street of Katherine. She was put on a 12-month good behaviour bond.

Larisa Lee: It's just, you know, stepping from being in a health centre, just being recognised for your work helping people and educating people around health, into being into politics was like climbing Mount Everest basically.

Ann Arnold: Larisa Lee.

Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu was put forward to the CLP by the Tiwi Land Council, which has close ties to the government. He says the Northern Territory intervention policy was one of his main motivations.

Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu: Well, the main thing was looking at intervention. A lot of people are not happy with the intervention and all that stuff.

Ann Arnold: Wouldn't the CLP have supported…?

Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu: I think they supported the intervention, but I was just a bit optimistic about what this government are doing now, and we decided to move away from this government.

Ann Arnold: After a stint as independents, and considering various alliances, including Bob Katter's party, Alison Anderson rang Clive Palmer in April. Suddenly she and three supporters were boarding Clive Palmer's plane at Alice Springs, bound for Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Eli Melky: There was a group of us that climbed aboard, yes, and we went across.

Ann Arnold: Eli Melky has been the unpaid organiser and active supporter of the Northern Territory PUP since it began three months ago. A former deputy treasurer of the Country Liberal Party who resigned about the same time Anderson and her colleagues did, he's an Alice Springs mover and shaker. A town councillor, real estate agent, mortgage broker, sports coach, and radio announcer.

Eli Melky: Alison, myself, there was Braedon Earley, who's no longer a member of the PUP, Palmer United Party, and a gentleman by the name of Leo Abbott went across, and it was fantastic. We met him at his resort, and we were provided accommodation at the resort in Maroochydore. And it was a lovely place to stay.

Ann Arnold: This was the Coolum resort.

Eli Melky: That's right. And Clive lives on the premises, I think, and he was in his house where he stays. And he was very, very cordial. We weren't sure what kind of a person we were going to meet, but here we are, faced with a man that we've heard so much about. But, you know, in that room were all of his staff, his senior executive staff, his senior media advisor, his senior staff members, general manager, I think, general national operations manager, I think…

Ann Arnold: Do you remember his name?

Eli Melky: Oh, I know all their names, but, you know, for this exercise we'll just call their positions. But the dialogue was between the two leaders and that's what we understood it would be like. And then Clive invited everyone to engage in the conversation, he was asking for people's opinion and then it opened up more and more and it got more and more relaxed, and the tension was reduced, and everything got a lot more relaxed and, you know, then we went out to dinner and it was very relaxed and very comfortable, and it was very…you were made to feel very, very welcome.

Ann Arnold: NT PUP supporter Eli Melky.

Alison Anderson says Clive Palmer's response was very positive.

Alison Anderson: I think he was interested in the fact that there were three Indigenous people, we were already politicians and we've gone to him. He was happy to sort of have us.

Ann Arnold: Issues raised at that meeting, and at another since, included the Northern Territory's mandatory sentencing and alcohol laws, which critics say target Aboriginal people, and have increased their incarceration rates. Clive Palmer told Background Briefing this week that he's keen to push those concerns, and Aboriginal health problems.

Clive Palmer: You know, the Northern Territory is a great shame and a blot on Australia's copy book. It's virtually a police state which persecutes many of our citizens, and it's a concern for all Australians. You know, we can't accept that we've got a 30-year gap, and it'll take 30 years to get there. If you're an Australian you're not an Australian in 30 years' time, you're an Australian today. And the Australian government has got a responsibility to look after all the people of this country, regardless of where they are, regardless of their circumstance.

Ann Arnold: One of the main issues for Alison Anderson is land rights legislation. She's determined that it stay under Commonwealth control where, through Clive Palmer, she believes she'll have some say over its future.

Alison Anderson: Most of our legislation of land rights comes under the Federal government and we wanted to make sure that that power is with the Federal government and it stays there, because I think it would be detrimental to land rights and Aboriginal people if any form of land rights was given back to the Northern Territory government.

Ann Arnold: That's not the view of Chief Minister Adam Giles. He wants land rights legislation brought under Territory control.

Adam Giles: Big vast areas of land are held in trust by a whole range of different people. So if one traditional owner on that land wants to do something with it, they've got to get support and agreement by all the traditional owners from within that land trust. They then have to get access to a part of that land. Now, traditionally what's happened is someone might just start up a business on their land. But without having that security of land tenure, a bank won't provide finance and investment or a loan. You won't be able to attract foreign investment, because people don't have that surety over their money into the future.

Ann Arnold: Would it make more sense for the Territory to have control of land rights, because I gather it's administered federally at the moment?

Adam Giles: I think at the end of the day patriation is the best model. It has been offered before by John Howard to Clare Martin, knocked it back in those days as Chief Minister. I think there is probably an opportunity for us to move back down that path, to be able to get the Land Rights Act here, which will allow us to work closer to the people on the ground, because fundamentally Canberra is a long way away from the Territory.

Ann Arnold: Sacred sites are another priority for Alison Anderson.

Alison Anderson: There's talks about abolition of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, which is a vital part of protecting sacred sites in the Northern Territory. And AAPA is a vital part of our identity. So there's a clause in the Land Rights Act that creates AAPA, so any abolition by the Territory government, or any wish to abolish AAPA, also has to come through the Federal senate.

Ann Arnold: But now miners would be some of the people most keen, potentially, to have less protection around sacred sites. Clive Palmer's a miner. Are you sure he's going to be onside with you on that one?

Alison Anderson: Well, look, those are the discussions that we'll have, and we'll fight for sacred sites, because it's part of our identity, and we don't care if we fight Clive Palmer on this one here.

Ann Arnold: Alison Anderson said to me that one thing she's sort of watching and waiting to see is whether you're prepared to use your balance of power in the senate to back the interests of Northern Territory Aboriginals, including by fighting to retain land rights legislation with the Commonwealth. Do you think you're prepared to do that?

Clive Palmer: Well, I don't know, I haven't had that discussion. I don't know what discussion you had with her. But I'm certainly prepared to use our influence in the senate to protect the rights of all Australians.

Ann Arnold: You have three mining tenements in the Territory. As a miner you'd want quick decisions on land access and agreements, wouldn't you?

Clive Palmer: Well, we've had them there for some time and I don't think that's an imperative. We certainly don't want to do something that will destroy people's lives. I value an individual's life more than I value any economic measure.

Ann Arnold: Clive Palmer.

The Northern Territory leader of the Opposition, Labor's Delia Lawrie, is more circumspect about Clive Palmer's motives.

Delia Lawrie: His business is resources. The Territory is rich with resources. We would be the next genuine potential field for his business opportunities, and it's great to have a stake in a jurisdiction that you see as your next business opportunity.

Ann Arnold: Speaking in her electorate office in a suburban Darwin shopping centre, Delia Lawrie questioned whether the NT PUP arrangement would last.

Delia Lawrie: Alison Anderson was with the Labor Party in government, she then became an independent, she then joined the Country Liberal Party who then went on to win government. She then became an independent, and now she's joined the Clive Palmer United Party. Alison will always do what Alison chooses to do, and she changes her mind a lot, so good luck to Clive Palmer, holding that one together.

Ann Arnold: The Northern Territory PUP group had not yet formed a policy or strategy when we met last month. They were wanting to have those discussions with Clive Palmer.

A second meeting with Palmer at Coolum took place two weekends ago. This time Alison Anderson and her parliamentary colleagues Larisa Lee and Francis Xavier Kurrupuwu were flown over. Clive Palmer said they all spoke publicly at a festival weekend he'd organised for his electorate of Fairfax. He was presenting his full team of Palmer United Party politicians.

Clive Palmer:

Clive Palmer: That's right, so as a national party across the nation we want to make sure that we are all integrated. One of the things about our party is that we've got nine or 10 members of Parliament, if you count Ricky Muir on our voting team, and four of them have got Indigenous backgrounds. There's the three from the Northern Territory, and Jacqui Lambie has got an Indigenous background from Tasmania. So of all the national parties in Australia we've got the highest number of Indigenous people in the party in Parliament.

Ann Arnold: And did you sit down separately with the Northern Territory group to work on policy and strategy?

Clive Palmer: Yes, we did, we had a good discussion about that, and we looked at the importance of equality in our society. It's clear that in the Northern Territory there is a large degree of racism taking place, both within government circles and with legislation, and it's important that this doesn't happen to any Australians.

Ann Arnold: So did you nut out any actual policies that you will proceed with?

Clive Palmer: Well, we looked at our policy development. We created what were the main issues for Territorians, and we've got people now working in the party up there, running through a program, because the election is about two years away and we want to make it relevant to the communities up there.

Ann Arnold: And when you say people up there working on a program, who are the people and what's the program?

Clive Palmer: Well, James McDonald who is our assistant national director is going to the Northern Territory in about two weeks and he'll be based up there for a couple of months. There's a number of people in our party from the Northern Territory, various communities, and former candidates that we had in the last Federal election.

Ann Arnold: The Palmer United Party ran Northern Territory Senate candidates in last year's Federal election.

Alison Anderson and colleagues, as already serving politicians, have been wanting more resources from Clive Palmer.

An issue that the candidates had, as you'd be aware, is they don't have enough resources, haven't had enough resources.

Clive Palmer: Yes.

Ann Arnold: Are you able to contribute any more financial support to them so that they can employ staff?

Clive Palmer: Well, we have some staff that we've contributed to them, but I pointed out to them that it's important to have political support from the community if you want to represent the community. And it's important if there's any funds to be raised, that it should be raised within the Northern Territory.

Ann Arnold: Have you so far contributed any finances at all to either any of those individuals specifically or to the group as a whole?

Clive Palmer: No, other than bought them lunch and invited them to come to our functions in Coolum.

Ann Arnold: And will you do that?

Clive Palmer: Well, me personally I won't, it's a question of whether the party will and whether the party wants to do that. We have a program going in the Northern Territory, and that's underway.

Ann Arnold: So you're saying it's over to them now to fund-raise, there won't be any more finances coming from you?

Clive Palmer: Well, funding is not the issue, the issue really is ideas.

Ann Arnold: Last month, Alison Anderson was saying that if the Northern Territory PUP is to survive, Clive Palmer had to deliver, or she'll walk away again.

Alison Anderson: We don't care where we go, and we'll continue to fight the struggle of recognising that we are 36% of the Territory's population.

Ann Arnold: Politics in the Territory can be rough. No more so than when deputy chief minister Dave Tollner is involved. After Alison Anderson publicly accused him of racially slurring her, he unleashed an extraordinary tirade against her in Parliament:

Dave Tollner [archival]: The member for Namatjira sitting there going, 'And you over there, you racist people, you don't understand it's now time black people took over this place, the poorest people in the world.'

Ann Arnold: The alleged slur he was responding to had occurred at a party late last year on the veranda outside Dave Tollner's office.

Alison Anderson: The circumstances were that we was invited to a function on his balcony. And we'd gone off to have a smoke—which I've since given up—and those comments were made to us.

Ann Arnold: According to Anderson, Tollner said:

Alison Anderson: 'What are you two lubras doing here?' And it's just not a comment that should be tolerated by anyone. It is offensive, and that kind of language is a dirty language. And yes, it refers to a woman but a dirty woman.

Ann Arnold: Where does it come from?

Alison Anderson: It was the slang that people used a long time ago in the Northern Territory to describe Aboriginal women.

Ann Arnold: White people used

Alison Anderson: White people used.

Ann Arnold: Anderson went public with this earlier this year. She wanted Adam Giles, the Chief Minister, to do something about his deputy's remarks.

Alison Anderson: Only in the Northern Territory would someone get away with such a comment. Nobody held him accountable. Anywhere else in the country he wouldn't be the deputy Chief Minister.

Ann Arnold: When Background Briefing asked the Chief Minister about racism in his government, the interview took an unexpected turn.

Do you think that your government and your colleagues, are they racist, are they sufficiently respectful of Indigenous colleagues?

Adam Giles: Completely. I have Aboriginal heritage, we've got Aboriginal ministers in our cabinet.

Ann Arnold: One, now.

Adam Giles: Well, two because I'm Aboriginal. Are you calling me not Aboriginal?

Ann Arnold: No, no, no, no…you said ministers. I'm thinking of you as the Chief Minister and the others as the ministers…

Adam Giles: Okay, I take that personally. So we've got two people out of nine who have Indigenous heritage. We're still just general ministers, we look after everybody. But we drive forward reforms in Aboriginal communities like never before. The biggest expenditure ever in the Territory's history, in the last budget, has gone out to regional and remote areas and I think that speaks for itself in what we're trying to drive in terms of change.

Ann Arnold: Did you censure Dave Tollner for his alleged comments about 'lubras' to Larisa Lee and Alison Anderson at a function late last year?

Adam Giles: I don't believe any of those allegations. And if they were real, put up or shut up. It's easy to get on ABC radio, who likes to relay racist comments all the time, I think ABC is more racist than the other comments that are around there, but if they are real, tell someone about it, don't just get out there and throw shit from the sidelines. ABC will keep playing it because that's what ABC does.

Ann Arnold: But isn't that telling someone?

Adam Giles: Well, it's telling people that ABC run this populist leftist agenda that tries to get people irate and be intolerant. Now, the assertions and the racist accusations that have been made about me by some of those people who have gone over to the other party that keep getting replayed by the ABC, can they not see that they're complicit in spreading racism in this country? Anyway, that's enough from me, I gotta go.

Ann Arnold: Adam Giles is known to have been angered by comments Alison Anderson has made, calling him a 'little boy'. Just as 'lubra' is offensive to Aboriginal women, 'little boy' in the Indigenous context can mean 'uninitiated Aboriginal man'. Those comments have been reported widely in News Corp and Fairfax and other media.

The Chief Minister's allocated interview time was up.

Adam Giles: I gotta go! Sorry, that's my personal opinion. Where's my pass and my phone?

Ann Arnold: The next morning, at an event in Darwin, at an Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre event, with national Indigenous leaders present, Adam Giles gave an off-the-cuff speech. This comment was broadcast on the local ABC news.

Adam Giles: And for the member for Namatjira Alison Anderson to walk out and provide some sort of complaint mechanism about the governance in the Northern Territory, ah, you've been there since 2005, a cabinet minister in two governments, and you never stood up for your people.

Ann Arnold: Chief Minister Giles is a man under siege. His government has a one-seat majority. Opposition leader Delia Lawrie:

Delia Lawrie: Look, things are very difficult in Territory politics for the government. It's still not stable. There's rumours still around, the in-fighting within the remaining 13 members of the Country Liberal Party, and there are different camps, definitely, within that. There's a strong dissatisfaction with the performance of the Chief Minister Adam Giles. Alison's all too aware of that because she's just come from their ranks, and she continues, I guess, to needle from without, because she's still got relationships with people within government. So, her job of destabilising is not over. She'll continue to do it, and they'll continue to have real problems.

Eli Melky: You need 13 to govern. That's the numbers. 25 seats in the Legislative Assembly. You need 13 to govern. They've got 13.

Ann Arnold: Alice Springs-based PUP organiser Eli Melky says it wouldn't take much to tip the government over the edge.

Eli Melky: As soon as they drop to 12, they've lost government. Do you want me to name a thousand reasons why13 go to 12? Natural causes. Unnatural causes. Political changes.

Ann Arnold: Are you aware of any dissatisfaction in there?

Eli Melky: You don't need to be aware, you just need to be astute enough to realise that if someone caught a cold and didn't show up to work that day, how's the voting going to be?

Ann Arnold: You said someone might come across to the PUP. Are you in discussions? Have you approached any sitting members?

Eli Melky: What I'm saying is the opportunity and the door is open. And the power of walking across is very evident. And that's a very, very attractive position for someone to make a veiled threat even to come across. And to actually make the journey, that's a brave person who wants to hold the government to account. Now, I don't know if someone is going to be brave enough or someone's upset enough. But gee, 2016, that's a very, very long time to keep your flock very happy. And you couldn't even keep three decent people happy. Seriously?

Ann Arnold: Eli Melky.

As for the head of the party, Clive Palmer, he wouldn't disclose the membership numbers of the Palmer United Party in the Northern Territory. But he's buoyed by their Federal Senate campaign last year, where their candidates polled 7% of the primary vote.

Clive Palmer: And we had a lot of the members of course up there to help us in the last campaign. And they're still members of the party. It's not as though these three people are our only people who are members. They joined a party with a vibrant, growing number of people from all walks of life, from around Darwin and other parts of the Territory, that want a better government and want a better way.

Ann Arnold: Background Briefing's coordinating producer is Linda McGinness, research Anna Whitfeld, technical production by Leila Shunnar, and the executive producer is Wendy Carlisle. I'm Ann Arnold.