00:00Market season is kicking off in the Northern Territory and so too is election fever.
00:12I'm here in Palmerston, the battleground city for the two women vying to be Chief Minister
00:17in August.
00:18But as polling day edges closer, how are people feeling about the election?
00:23Let's find out.
00:27What is your number one issue in the lead up to the Territory election?
00:30Oh, the youth crime.
00:32I'm a youth worker by what I do and I hate seeing what the kids get up to.
00:37Crime, break-ins, thefts.
00:39The cost of living for sure.
00:41The cost of living is ridiculous.
00:43Cost of living.
00:44Do you agree with that 100%?
00:49As household budgets are squeezed, Palmerston florist owner Elyse Bissett is feeling the
00:53pinch.
00:54Flowers have gone up in price, our margin's gotten smaller and it's more of a fight to
01:01get that pre-COVID money back.
01:05Her business is one of only two still open in this complex in Palmerston CBD.
01:10The florist has been broken into six times as crime drives small businesses away.
01:15Over here at Goyder Square can get really, really violent.
01:19At times, like, really scary.
01:23Elyse locks the front door to stay safe at work.
01:26She's tired of seeing Palmerston fall behind and wants politicians to step up.
01:31I really think that putting their heads together is going to be better for all of us.
01:36If the politicians work together, how would that be?
01:39How awesome would that be?
01:41I'm going to hang up the washing on the street light.
01:48At this local hall in Grey, these seasoned songbirds are part of a growing number of
01:53seniors living in Palmerston.
01:55The territory's shortage of nursing home beds is front of mind.
02:00My husband was hospitalised, he was in Palmerston Hospital for almost two years.
02:05He had dementia and was able to go to a nursing home had there been a vacancy, but there just wasn't.
02:13They're worried about the influence social media is having on their grandchildren, but
02:17having seen the world change over the decades, they're able to lighten up.
02:22Our generation is going to be destroyed by the Beatles as far as I'm concerned.
02:27And don't forget Elvis.
02:31A redistribution of boundary lines has the Chief Minister Eva Lawler holding her seat
02:37of Drysdale at a reduced margin.
02:39Opposition leader Leah Finocchiaro is sitting more comfortably in the nearby seat of Spillet
02:45with a margin of 15 per cent.
02:47Nearly 40,000 people call Palmerston home, most of them families.
02:53And how they vote holds sway for both women aiming for the top job.
02:59Finding security has been a challenge for single mother Anna Lewin.
03:02After waiting six years for government housing, she gave up and calls herself one of the lucky
03:07ones to find a private rental with reasonable rent.
03:11It's just me and my son and it's very hard to manage I guess, yeah.
03:19Anna's concerned about the wellbeing of all Territory children and the role trauma is
03:24having in the community.
03:26When they leave their front doors, they're walking out there because they're leaving
03:29their trauma.
03:30They don't want to go back to the trauma that they just walked out the door from.
03:34And that's what the government needs to understand and realise.
03:37Anna says the Territory's social problems can't be fixed with law and order alone and
03:43wants to see the NT grow holistically.
03:46I want to see change, yeah I do.
03:48I love the Territory and I'm here to stay and yeah, I'd love to see it grow.
03:54Optimism in a Territory at tipping point.
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