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Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

Head of the Northern Territory

Field	Value
post	Chief Minister
body	the
Northern Territory
insignia	Northern Territory Coat of Arms.svg
insigniasize	120px
insigniacaption	Coat of arms of the Northern Territory
flag	Flag of the Northern Territory.svg
flagsize	120px
flagcaption	Flag of the Northern Territory
image	Lia Finocchiaro Profile.jpg
imagesize	200px
incumbent	Lia Finocchiaro
incumbentsince	28 August 2024
department	Department of the Chief Minister
style	The Honourable
status	Head of government
abbreviation	CM
member_of
reports_to	Parliament
seat	Darwin, Northern Territory
appointer	Administrator of the Northern Territory
appointer_qualified	by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly
termlength	At the Administrator's pleasure
termlength_qualified	contingent on the chief minister's ability to command confidence in the house of Parliament
constituting_instrument	None (constitutional convention)
formation	19 October 1974 as Majority Leader
1 July 1978 as chief minister
first	Goff Letts as Majority Leader
Paul Everingham as chief minister
deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
salary	A$325,392
website	www.chiefminister.nt.gov.au

Northern Territory 1 July 1978 as chief minister Paul Everingham as chief minister The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier. When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government was officially known as majority leader. This title was used in the first parliament (1974–1977) and the first eighteen months of the second. When the Northern Territory acquired limited self-government in 1978, the title of the head of government became chief minister with greatly expanded powers, though still somewhat less than those of a state premier.

The chief minister is formally appointed by the administrator, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whichever party holds the majority of seats in the unicameral Legislative Assembly. In times of constitutional crisis, the administrator can appoint someone else as chief minister, though this has never occurred.

Since 28 August 2024, following the 2024 Northern Territory general election, the chief minister is Lia Finocchiaro of the Country Liberal Party. She is the fourth female chief minister of the Northern Territory.

History

The Country Liberal Party won the first Northern Territory election on 19 October 1974 and elected Goff Letts majority leader. He headed an Executive that carried out most of the functions of a ministry at the state level. At the 1977 election Letts lost his seat and party leadership. He was succeeded on 13 August 1977 by Paul Everingham (CLP) as Majority Leader. When the Territory attained self-government on 1 July 1978, Everingham became chief minister and his Executive became a Ministry.

Despite the Majority Leader's title, the Majority Leader's opposite number was not known as Minority Leader but instead the Leader of the Opposition.

In 2001, Clare Martin became the first Labor and female chief minister of the Northern Territory. Until 2004 the conduct of elections and drawing of electoral boundaries was performed by the Northern Territory Electoral Office, a unit of the Department of the chief minister. In March 2004 the independent Northern Territory Electoral Commission was established.

In 2013, Mills was replaced as chief minister and CLP leader by Adam Giles at the 2013 CLP leadership ballot on 13 March to become the first indigenous Australian to lead a state or territory government in Australia.

Following the 2016 election landslide outcome, Labor's Michael Gunner became chief minister; he was the first Chief Minister who was born in the Northern Territory. On 10 May 2022, Gunner announced his intention to resign. On 13 May 2022, Natasha Fyles was elected to the position by the Labor caucus. On 19 December 2023, Fyles resigned following controversy over undeclared shares in mining company South32. On 21 December 2023, Eva Lawler replaced Fyles by a unanimous decision of the Labor caucus.

List of chief ministers of the Northern Territory

From the foundation of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974 until the granting of self-government in 1978, the head of government was known as the majority leader:

; Political parties

No.	Portrait	Name
Electoral division
(Birth–death)	Election	Term of office	Political party	Executive	Administrator	Term start	Term end	Time in office	CLP}}	1	CLP}}	2
[[File:Goff_Letts.jpg	111x111px]]	Goff Letts
MLA for Victoria River
(1928–2023)	1974	19 October
1974	12 August
1977		CLP	Letts	Jock Nelson
(1973–1975)
None
(1975–1978)
[[File:Paul_Everingham.jpg	131x131px]]	Paul Everingham
MLA for Jingili
(born 1943)	1977	13 August
1977	30 June
1978		CLP	Everingham
John England
(1978–1981)

From 1978, the position was known as the chief minister:

No.	Portrait	Name
Electoral division
(Birth–death)	Election	Term of office	Political party	Ministry	Administrator	Term start	Term end	Time in office	CLP}}	1	2	CLP}}	3	CLP}}	4	CLP}}	5	CLP}}	6	Australian Labor Party}};	7	Australian Labor Party}};	8	9	CLP}}	10	Australian Labor Party}};	11	Australian Labor Party}};	12	Australian Labor Party}};	13	CLP}}	14
[[File:Paul_Everingham.jpg	132x132px]]	Paul Everingham
MLA for Jingili
(born 1943)	—	1 July
1978	15 October
1984		CLP	Everingham	John England
(1978–1981)
1980
Eric Johnston
(1981–1989)
1983
[[File:Ian_Tuxworth_cropped_portrait.jpg	100x100px]]	Ian Tuxworth
MLA for Barkly
(1942–2020)	—	16 October
1984	13 May
1986		CLP	Tuxworth
[[File:Stephen_Hatton_Potrait.jpg	155x155px]]	Stephen Hatton
MLA for Nightcliff
(born 1948)	—	14 May
1986	12 July
1988		CLP	Hatton
1987
[[File:Marshall_Perron_-_Library_&_Archives_NT_(PH0730-1372).jpg	155x155px]]	Marshall Perron
MLA for Fannie Bay
(born 1942)	—	13 July
1988	24 May
1995		CLP	Perron
James Muirhead
(1989–1993)
1990
Austin Asche
(1993–1997)
1994
[[File:Shane_Stone_(cropped).jpg	148x148px]]	Shane Stone
MLA for Port Darwin
(born 1950)	—	25 May
1995	7 February
1999		CLP	Stone
1997
Neil Conn
(1997–2000)
[[File:Denis_Burke_in_2001.jpg	152x152px]]	Denis Burke
MLA for Brennan
(born 1948)	—	8 February
1999	27 August
2001		CLP	Burke
John Anictomatis
(2000–2003)
[[File:Clare Martin in 2001.jpg	147x147px]]	Clare Martin
MLA for Fannie Bay
(born 1952)	2001	27 August
2001	26 November
2007		TL	Martin
Ted Egan
(2003–2007)
2005
Tom Pauling
(2007–2011)
[[File:Paul_Henderson_in_2001.jpg	152x152px]]	Paul Henderson
MLA for Wanguri
(born 1962)	—	26 November
2007	28 August
2012		TL	Henderson
2008
Sally Thomas
(2011–2014)
[[File:Terry_Mills_in_2005_(cropped).jpg	135x135px]]	Terry Mills
MLA for Blain
(born 1957)	2012	29 August
2012	13 March
2013		CLP	Mills
[[File:Adam_Giles_Portrait_2015.jpg	137x137px]]	Adam Giles
MLA for Braitling
(born 1973)	—	14 March
2013	30 August
2016		CLP	Giles
John Hardy
(2014–2017)
[[File:Michael_Gunner_shakes_hands_with_Adm._Harry_Harris_(cropped).jpg	135x135px]]	Michael Gunner
MLA for Fannie Bay
(born 1976)	2016	31 August
2016	13 May
2022		TL	Gunner
Vicki O'Halloran
(2017–2023)
2020
[[File:FylesPortrait_(cropped).png	135x135px]]	Natasha Fyles
MLA for Nightcliff
(born 1978)	—	13 May
2022	21 December
2023		TL	Fyles
Hugh Heggie
(since 2023)
[[File:EvaLawler2023cropped.jpg	145x145px]]	Eva Lawler
MLA for Drysdale
(born 1962)	—	21 December
2023	28 August 2024		TL	Lawler
[[File:Lia Finocchiaro Profile.jpg	137x137px]]	Lia Finocchiaro
MLA for Spillett
(born 1984)	2024	28 August 2024	Incumbent		CLP	Finocchiaro

References

(1 June 2021). "Here's How Much Every State Premier Gets Paid If You Wanna Get Boomer-Tier Mad About Yr Taxes".
(13 March 2013). "Mills dumped as Giles takes top Territory job". ABC News.
(2022-05-10). "Michael Gunner resigns as NT Chief Minister to spend more time with family, newborn". ABC News.
(2022-05-13). "Northern Territory Chief Minister revealed after shock resignation of Michael Gunner". ABC News.
Cox, Lisa. (2023-12-19). "NT chief minister Natasha Fyles resigns after failing to disclose mining shares worth $2,000". The Guardian.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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