Saturday's Northern Territory election not only triggered a major backlash against the incumbent Labor Government, it is yet another signal that a period of voter volatility is upon us.

A few weeks ago I wrote in this column about a forecast made last year by social researcher Hugh Mackay that not only would John Howard lose the federal election, but that Labor's hold on the states would then quickly follow suit.

His theory stated that after enjoying a "dreamy disengagement", the public people was looking for new ways to re-connect with their communities, and as such are also re-connecting with the political process. They are looking for fresh ideas and a change in their governments, meaning the successful campaigns of the last decade were not necessarily a template for success in the future.

It's a lesson that Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson learnt the hard way on Saturday. He now has to wait nervously for the final count in the seat of Fannie Bay to know whether his government survives, or whether a hung parliament will deliver the CLP power via Independent MP Gerry Wood.

Not only were Territory voters tired of the Labor Government, from all reports they also resented the fact that Mr Henderson called the election 11 months before it was due.

And so comes the warning to WA's Mr Carpenter, albeit too late for him to heed the call. He has already tied his fate to a too-smart-by-half attempt to catch the Liberals unprepared by not only calling an election well before it is due, just a day after Colin Barnett was returned to the post of Opposition Leader, and at a time when the voting public has its attention focussed squarely on the Beijing Olympics.

Mr Carpenter should be worried for a number of reasons, the most important being that although the strategy makes perfect sense, voters can see straight through it and will view the move with the cynicism and derision it deserves.

I have little doubt there will be a swing against Labor in WA but whether that is enough to deliver power to the Liberals is another matter - they are after all just emerging from an embarrassing period of hopeless division. Like most the Opposition around most of the country, their biggest enemy has been themselves.

But unlike the greenhorns who preceded him, Colin Barnett knows what he is in for and will be a much tougher opponent for Carpenter.

Coupled with the public mood that Mackay has forecast, the coming weeks in WA and NT, and the next 12 months of politics will be a fascinating period and a scary time for Labor.