HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Parliament of the Northern Territory is the
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
legislature of the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
of Australia. It consists of the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method f ...
and the Administrator of the Northern Territory, who represents the
Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
. It is one of three unicameral parliaments in Australia, along with those of
Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...
and the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Aust ...
. The Legislative Assembly replaced the previous Legislative Council in 1974. It sits in
Parliament House, Darwin Parliament House in Darwin is Australia's newest Parliament Building. It has been the seat of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 1994. Parliament House is located on State Square in the centre of Darwin, which is also the administr ...
. The leader of the party with the most seats in the Legislative Assembly is invited by the Administrator to form the Government of the Northern Territory. The head of the government is the Chief Minister.


Source of legislative powers

The Parliament of the Northern Territory, which comprises the Legislative Assembly and the Administrator, exercises the legislative power in the Territory which are similar to those of the Australian state parliaments. The
Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1974
' (Cth) granted self-government to the Territory. The federal government retains control of certain legislative areas, including Aboriginal land, industrial relations, national parks and uranium mining. However, while the state parliaments derive their legislative powers from constitutional sources, the Northern Territory derives its legislative power from the delegation of powers from the Commonwealth. The
Australian Parliament The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the governor-g ...
thus retains the right to legislate for the Territory, if it chooses to exercise it. This includes the power to override any legislation passed by the Northern Territory Parliament. For example, in response to the Northern Territory Parliament's passage of the '' Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995'', the Territory's
voluntary euthanasia Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years. Some forms of ...
law, the federal Parliament passed the
Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 The ''Euthanasia Laws Act 1997'' (Cth) was an Act of the Parliament of Australia to amend the ''Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978'', the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 and the Norfolk Island Act 1979 to re ...
, which amended the laws granting self-government to the territories–in the Northern Territory's case, the '' Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978''–to remove that area from the legislative competences of the territories.


History

From 1911 to 1947 the laws of the Northern Territory were made by the
Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
. In 1947 the ''Northern Territory (Administration) Act'' was amended to provide for a territory legislature. The first legislative council for the Northern Territory was created in Darwin in March 1948. It consisted of seven official members appointed by the
Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
, six elected members and the administrator as president of the council. In 1974 the Legislative Council was replaced by a fully elected Legislative Assembly with nineteen members. From 1974 until 2001, the Assembly was controlled by the conservative
Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...
, which is affiliated with the federal Liberal- National
coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
. However, at the 2001 election, the Labor Party won government for the first time on a one-seat majority, with Clare Martin becoming the Territory's first Labor and first female Chief Minister. Labor won 19 seats to the CLP's 4 at the 2005 election. Martin resigned in 2007 with
Paul Henderson Paul Garnet Henderson, (born January 28, 1943) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Fla ...
becoming Labor leader, and retained government with another one-seat majority at the
2008 election This electoral calendar 2008 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2008 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, even though they are not elections. By-elections are ...
. The CLP led by Terry Mills defeated Labor at the 2012 election with 16 seats to Labor's 8. Mills resigned in 2013 with Adam Giles becoming CLP leader. The CLP was reduced to a one-seat majority in 2014 when three CLP members defected to the Palmer United Party, however one later rejoined the CLP. After further defections, numbers fell to
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in t ...
status in July 2015. The 2016 election saw a landslide CLP defeat which brought Labor to power led by Chief Minister
Michael Gunner Michael Patrick Francis Gunner (born 6 January 1976) is an Australian politician and was the 11th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 2016 to 2022. He is a Labor member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, having held his ...
. The position of
Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Au ...
has been held by CLP-turned-independent MP Kezia Purick since 23 October 2012. Despite Labor's massive majority following the 2016 election, the incoming Labor government re-appointed Purick as Speaker.NT Labor Government announces female-dominated Cabinet: ABC 11 September 2016
/ref> In 2020, Purick's role as Speaker was revoked as a result of an ICAC investigation.
Chansey Paech Chanston James "Chansey" Paech (pronounced "CHAN-see PAKE"; born 1987) is an Australian politician. He is a Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016, representing the electorate of Namatjira until 2020 and E ...
took the role, until the dissolution of parliament, which preceded the
2020 Northern Territory general election The 2020 Northern Territory general election was held on 22 August 2020 to elect all 25 members of the Legislative Assembly in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament. Members were elected through full preferential instant-runoff voting ...
. Following this election, Paech resigned as Speaker on 7 September 2020 to become a minister in the Gunner cabinet. Deputy speaker Ngaree Ah Kit is currently acting speaker until the parliament resumes in October to elect a new presiding officer.


See also

*
2020 Northern Territory general election The 2020 Northern Territory general election was held on 22 August 2020 to elect all 25 members of the Legislative Assembly in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament. Members were elected through full preferential instant-runoff voting ...
*
Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, 2020–2024 This is a list of members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2020 to 2024, as elected at the 2020 election. : Robyn Lambley resigned from the Territory Alliance party on 21 October 2020, approximately two months after the 20 ...
*
Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...
*
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method f ...
* Northern Territory Legislative Council *
Parliament House, Darwin Parliament House in Darwin is Australia's newest Parliament Building. It has been the seat of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 1994. Parliament House is located on State Square in the centre of Darwin, which is also the administr ...
*
Parliaments of the Australian states and territories The Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. All the parliaments are based on the Westminster system, and each is regulated by its own constitut ...


Notes


References


External links


https://parliament.nt.gov.au
{{Parliaments of Australia
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
1974 establishments in Australia