From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Northern Territory Government

Territory government of the Northern Territory, Australia

Summary

Territory government of the Northern Territory, Australia

1 January 1911 as an Australian territory
1 July 1978 under responsible self-government
Executive Council of the Northern Territory (de jure)
Cabinet of the Northern Territory (de facto)

The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Constitution of Australia and Commonwealth law regulates its relationship with the Commonwealth.

Under the Australian Constitution, the Commonwealth has full legislative power, if it chooses to exercise it, over the Northern Territory, and has devolved self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory legislature does not have the legislative independence of the Australian states but has power in all matters not in conflict with the Constitution and applicable Commonwealth laws, but subject to a Commonwealth veto.

Since 28 August 2024, the head of government is Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro of the Country Liberal Party, following the election defeat of Eva Lawler as chief minister on 24 August 2024.

Legislative powers

Legislative power rests with the Legislative Assembly, which consists of the Administrator of the Northern Territory and the members of the Assembly. While the Assembly exercises roughly the same powers as the state governments of Australia, it does so by a delegation of powers from the Commonwealth, rather than by any constitutional right. This means that the Australian Parliament retains the right to legislate for the Territory, if it chooses to exercise it. Under the law granting self-government to the Territory, the Federal Cabinet can advise the Governor-General of Australia to overturn any legislation passed by the Assembly. (See also Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories).

Executive powers

The government consists of a Ministry appointed by the Administrator, from the elected members of the Assembly. The Administrator normally appoints the leader of the majority party in the Assembly as the Chief Minister. The other members of the ministry are appointed by the Administrator on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Northern Territory Government is a member of the Council of Australian Governments.

Current ministries

Main article: Finocchiaro ministry, Opposition (Northern Territory)

Source:

Current composition

Minister	Office
	Hon Lia Finocchiaro, MLA
	Hon Gerard Maley, MLA
	Bill Yan
	Marie-Clare Boothby
	Steve Edgington
	Joshua Burgoyne
	Jo Hersey
	Robyn Cahill
	Jinson Charls

Proposed Northern Territory statehood

Main article: Proposed Northern Territory statehood

For many years there has been agitation for statehood. A referendum was held on the issue in 1998, but the proposal was narrowly rejected. This was a shock to both the Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments, for opinion polls showed most Territorians supported statehood. However, under s. 121 of the Australian Constitution, the terms of admission of new states are decided by the Commonwealth Parliament. The terms offered included an increase to three seats in the Senate from two. The other states all have 12 senators. Alongside what was cited as an arrogant approach adopted by then Chief Minister Shane Stone, it is thought that many Territorians were reluctant to accept statehood on the offered terms.

References

Notes

References

"BUDGET 2023-24 Budget Paper No. 2 BUDGET STRATEGY AND OUTLOOK". Northern Territory Government.
(2023-12-20). "Eva Lawler to become Northern Territory chief minister". ABC News.
(2023-12-20). "How $2,500 worth of shares brought down the NT chief minister". ABC News.
(2023-12-19). "The NT chief minister has resigned. Here's who could replace her". ABC News.
. (16 September 2020). ["The Cabinet - NT.GOV.AU"](https://nt.gov.au/about-government/the-cabinet). *Northern Territory Government*.
. (2 December 2020). ["The Shadow Ministry - NT.GOV.AU"](https://parliament.nt.gov.au/members/shadow-ministry). *Northern Territory Government*.

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.

northern-territory-government 1978-establishments-in-australia

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Northern Territory Government — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report