[3] The campaign was a particularly close one, but Toyne was ultimately successful, defeating Country Liberal Party candidate Tony Bohning by only 72 votes.
By this point, Toyne was becoming an increasingly prominent figure in Northern Territory politics, and at the 2001 election, was easily re-elected, winning more than 70% of the vote.
When that same election saw the ALP win their first victory in the history of the Assembly, new Chief Minister Clare Martin appointed Toyne to the ministry, most notably as Attorney-General.
[4] Though he had publicly speculated about resigning at the 2005 election, he later announced that he would indeed re-contest the seat after being rebuked by Martin, and was easily re-elected for a third full term.
[5] Barely a year after being re-elected, on 29 August 2006, Toyne suddenly resigned from both the ministry and from parliament, citing an unspecified medical condition.