Government of the Northern Territory

Logo of the Northern Territory Government

The Government of the Northern Territory operates according to the principles of the Westminster system, a form of parliamentary government based on the model of the United Kingdom. The Northern Territory has had internal self-government since 1978, but it does not have the full legislative independence of the Australian states.

Legislative and executive powers

Legislative power rests with the Legislative Assembly, which consists of the Crown (represented by 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 Federal Government, rather than by any constitutional right. This means that the Australian Parliament retains the right to legislate for the Territory. It also means that the Federal Cabinet can advise the Governor-General of Australia to overturn any legislation passed by the Assembly; the Federal Government exercised this power, for instance, when it repealed the Territory's voluntary euthanasia laws. (See also Electoral systems of the Australian states and territories).

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 remaining 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 parliament

The current head of government is Chief Minister Adam Giles of the Country Liberal Party. The current Leader of the Opposition Australian Labor Party is Michael Gunner.

Federal representation of NT

The territory is represented in the Commonwealth parliament by two members in the House of Representatives, the Division of Solomon and Division of Lingiari, and two members in the Senate. The Member for Lingiari also represents voters from Australia's Indian Ocean Territories (Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands), while the Northern Territory Senators represent those voters in the Senate.

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

External links

Government of the Northern Territory website

Government of the Northern Territory

Executive	Queen Administrator Chief Minister Deputy Chief Minister Cabinet Police

Legislative	Parliament Legislative Assembly Legislative Council Electoral divisions MLAs Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Opposition Leader

Judicial	Supreme Court Magistrates court Local Court Coroners Court Other courts and tribunals

Northern Territory

Topics	History Flag Geography Territory Government Territory Parliament Local Government Energy Sport Fire and Rescue Service Police Crime

Regions	Alice Springs Region Arnhem Land Barkly Tableland Darwin Region Katherine Region

Major settlements	Alice Springs Darwin Katherine Nhulunbuy Palmerston Tennant Creek

Northern Territory portal

Politics of Australia

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Federal elections	pre-1969 1969 1972 1974 1975 1977 1980 1983 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 next by-elections

State/Territory governments	Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Parliaments and Assemblies NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas ACT NT

State/Territory elections	NSW 2015 Vic 2014 Qld 2015 WA 2013 SA 2014 Tas 2014 ACT 2012 NT 2012 NSW 2019 Vic 2018 Next Qld WA 2017 SA 2018 Next Tas ACT 2016 NT 2016

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States and mainland territories	New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Tasmania Australian Capital Territory Northern Territory Jervis Bay Territory

External territories	Ashmore and Cartier Islands Australian Antarctic Territory Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Coral Sea Islands Heard Island and McDonald Islands Norfolk Island

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.