NT Labor celebrating win, but there's still much trust to earn back

The ranks of the Northern Territory parliament feature a grab bag of different backgrounds.

Over the years, the building known as "the wedding cake" has welcomed a school principal, commercial lawyer, AFL players, Aboriginal elders and an Oxford-educated migration expert.

NT Labor scored a new entry into this field overnight with the election of a man with one of the more extraordinary backstories of any politician entering the legislative assembly.

Registered nurse and Yolŋu man Yiwarr McGrath won the Mulka by-election in remote north-east Arnhem Land and will take over from retired independent MLA Yiŋiya Guyula.

As Mr McGrath told the ABC in Nhulunbuy last night, he grew up in the north-east Arnhem Land electorate in poverty, as "an orphan child … not knowing when the next meal is".

"So, I'm going to come here to the parliament with real life experiences and influence policy for my people and everyone else in this region," he said.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows east Arnhem Land remains one of the nation's 10 most disadvantaged local government areas.

A 35-year-old father-of-three, a health professional and a former NT Young Australian of the Year, Mr McGrath will now take his people's plight into the halls of power.

NT Labor celebrated Mr McGrath's victory in Nhulunbuy on Saturday night after he swept up the majority of votes against sole challenger, independent Andrew Blamey.

Mr McGrath's victory sees NT Labor hit six seats in parliament, and restores the seat of Mulka — formerly named Nhulunbuy — to the party that held it between 1980 and 2016.

There was little doubt NT Labor would reclaim Mulka at the by-election.

The well-resourced party rolled out its biggest players on the campaign trail, from a sitting federal MP and a government minister to former local MLAs and even an ex-NT chief minister.

At the by-election after-party in Nhulunbuy, an elated Opposition Leader Selena Uibo said the win was a "huge boost for our Labor caucus, and of course our Labor party".

"We want to show Territorians we are there to do the heavy lifting … that we've learned from the past," she said.