Namatjira is an almost entirely rural electorate, covering 198,384 km2, and taking in the resort town of Yulara, the remote communities of Hermannsburg, Kintore and Papunya, and part of southern Alice Springs.

The seat's first member, Alison Anderson, the former Labor-turned-independent-turned-Country Liberal (CLP) member for MacDonnell, won the seat handily at the 2012 Territory election amid a large swing to the CLP in the remote portions of the Territory.

Although a redistribution seemingly consolidated the CLP majority in the seat by pushing it into Alice Springs, most commentators believed Anderson's endorsement,[1] combined with the CLP's lackluster polling numbers, made Namatjira a likely Labor gain.

Paech took the seat on a swing of over 29 percent—large albeit not the largest at the election—amid Labor's landslide victory that year.

However, a redistribution erased Paech's majority and made Namatjira notionally a marginal CLP seat.