The influx of politicians including Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to the Northern Territory during the federal election campaign suggests both major parties regard it as important to the result.
There are only two electorates and less than 140,000 enrolled voters in the Territory but Mr Morrison and Mr Shorten visited twice during the election campaign, along with other high-ranking politicians such as Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen.
The government's majority is just one seat
The Darwin electorate of Solomon is held by Labor's Luke Gosling by 6.1 per cent but it has historically spent more time in Liberal hands.
Lingiari's long-term Labor MP Warren Snowdon has an 8.1 per cent margin.
"You don't have to be a crystal gazer to know their internal polling is showing it's close, why would they be coming here for just two seats in a huge federal election unless it was close," says Ken Parish, a law lecturer at Charles Darwin University and former Labor NT MP.
Country Liberal candidates Jacinta Price and Kathy Ganley are regarded as having realistic chances of winning Lingiari and Solomon respectively.
However Ms Ganley has surprised political pundits by refusing to do any media appearances or public debates or forums in the final week of the campaign.
She did not participate in an election debate hosted by the ABC on Wednesday, along with similar forums hosted by local radio stations Mix and Territory FM and a Politics in the Pub event featuring the rest of the candidates .
The CLP position is that Ms Ganley is busy at polling booths and the ABC refused its request to withdraw radio host Adam Steer from convening, following a radio interview where he wrongly said Ms Price's former MP mother was accused of taxpayer rorts.
However, the withdrawals also followed an appearance at an earlier pub debate where Ms Ganley told an elderly woman who asked about solar power and electric cars "to stop taking the drugs that you're on".
Helping the Liberals' cause is disaffection with the NT Gunner Labor government, including a weak economy in Darwin especially and the NT government's chronic budget deficit, which they are campaigning on.
However federal Labor has promised more NT-specific funding, including tourism infrastructure money for Kakadu National Park quickly and $300 million in the construction of a new ship lift in Darwin.
"I suspect Labor has sandbagged both seats successfully but I think it is going to be a lot tighter and it is going to be back in to marginal seat territory," Mr Parish said.
