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A referendum was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday, 3 October 1998, to decide whether the Territory should become a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Country Liberal Party government, and its federal counterpart, supported the Yes case. The opposition Labor Party supported the No case.
The referendum was narrowly defeated, 51.9% to 48.1%. The "Yes" case received 44,702 votes, the "No" case 48,241. There were 1068 invalid ballots.
The result was widely interpreted as a personal rebuke to then Chief Minister Shane Stone. Polls suggest that most of the people living in the Northern Territory continue to support statehood for the territory in principle. [1]
The failed referendum has been seen as the trigger for the demise of the CLP government which had been in power since 1974.
In February 1999, months after the failed referendum, Stone resigned as Chief Minister with the failed referendum being the trigger for his ousting.
He was replaced by Denis Burke who then led the CLP to defeat in 2001 election marking the end of 27 years of CLP rule. [2]
The territory has a legislative assembly. Whilst this assembly exercises roughly the same powers as the governments of the states of Australia, it does so by delegation of powers from the commonwealth government, rather than by any constitutional right. For several years there has been agitation for full statehood.
Under the Australian Constitution, the Federal government may set the terms of entry to full statehood. The Northern Territory was offered three Senators, rather than the twelve guaranteed to original states. [ citation needed ] (Because of the difference in populations, equal numbers of Senate seats would mean a Territorian's vote for a Senator would have been worth more than 30 votes in New South Wales or Victoria.) Alongside what was cited as an arrogant approach adopted by then Chief Minister Shane Stone, it is believed that most Territorians were reluctant to adopt the offer which was made.
A bipartisan NT Legislative Assembly Committee, chaired by former Chief Minister Stephen Hatton, had proposed a draft Constitution and that it should be debated at an elected Constitutional Convention. Shane Stone ignored the latter recommendation, nominating a Convention membership of 53 members at short notice, and then presented to the Convention a draft Constitution that was different from the Committee's recommendation. [3] Stephen Hatton later said "one of the campaign slogans at the time was, we want statehood, not Stonehood". [3]
The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP), commonly known as the Country Liberals, 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 elections as an affiliate of the Liberal Party of Australia and National Party of Australia, the two partners in the federal coalition.
Denis Gabriel Burke is a former Australian politician. A former Australian Army officer, he served as a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 1994 to 2005. He spent two years as Chief Minister after succeeding Shane Stone, but oversaw the CLP's defeat at the 2001 election, ending 27 years of continuous CLP government in the Northern Territory. Burke later served as Opposition Leader from 2001 to 2003 before being toppled, but was re-elected as leader in 2005. He subsequently took the party to its largest-ever defeat at the 2005 election, culminating in the shock loss of his own seat.
The Constitution Alteration (Referendums) Bill 1977 was an Australian referendum held in 1977 in which electors approved an amendment to the Australian constitution to allow electors in the Australian territories to vote at referendums. Electors in the territories were to be counted towards the national total, but would not be counted toward any state total.
Shane Leslie Stone is an Australian political figure. He served as the Chair of the Council for the Order of Australia from 2018 to 2023. He was also the Coordinator-General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency and its predecessors until August 2022. He was previously the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory between May 1995 and February 1999, representing the Country Liberal Party. He was also the President of the Liberal Party of Australia between July 1999 and 2005.
Susan Jill Carter is an Australian politician. She was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2000 to 2005, representing the central Darwin electorate of Port Darwin. After winning a by-election upon the resignation of former Chief Minister Shane Stone, Carter served as Opposition Whip and Shadow Minister for Health, and was briefly touted as a leadership aspirant before being unexpectedly defeated at the 2005 election.
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 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.
A general election was held in the Northern Territory, Australia on Saturday 7 March 1987. Although the incumbent Country Liberal Party (CLP) won a majority under new leader Stephen Hatton, the party's vote was down almost 20 percentage points.
Terence Kennedy Mills is an Australian politician who is the founder and leader of the Territory Alliance. He served as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory from 2012 to 2013 as a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP).
Adam Graham Giles is an Australian former politician and former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament. Giles was the first Indigenous Australian to serve as a head of government in Australia.
Michael Patrick Francis Gunner 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 seat of Fannie Bay in Darwin since the retirement of then Chief Minister Clare Martin at the 2008 election.
Kezia Dorcas Tibisay Purick is an Australian politician. She is an independent member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, having held her seat of Goyder since the 2008 election. Prior to entering Parliament, Purick was the CEO of the NT Minerals Council for 16 years. Originally elected as a member of the Country Liberal Party, she became an independent in 2015.
Peter Donald Styles is an Australian politician. He was a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2008 to 2016, representing the electorate of Sanderson.
Stephen Paul Hatton is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988. From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of Nightcliff. He first became a minister in December 1984 in the Ian Tuxworth government.
The 2016 Northern Territory general election was held on Saturday 27 August 2016 to elect all 25 members of the Legislative Assembly in the unicameral Northern Territory Parliament.
The Hon James Murray Robertson is a former Australian politician.
The 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2 to 13 February 1998. It was called by the Howard government to discuss whether Australia should become a republic. The convention concluded with "in principle support" for an Australian republic and proposed a model involving appointment of the head of state by Parliament. The model was put to a referendum in November 1999 and rejected by the Australian electorate.
Lia Emele Finocchiaro is an Australian politician. She has been a Country Liberal Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly for the seat of Spillett since her election in 2016. She became Leader of the Opposition in the Northern Territory after the resignation of Gary Higgins on 1 February 2020. She was previously the member for Drysdale from 2012 to 2016.
Gary John Higgins is an Australian former politician. A member of the Country Liberal Party, he was elected to represent the seat of Daly in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly at the 2012 election. After the 2016 election, the CLP was reduced to only two members in the Legislative Assembly, with Higgins becoming party leader and Leader of the Opposition. Following health problems, he resigned both positions in favour of Lia Finocchiaro in February 2020, and retired at the 2020 election.
The Northern Territory (NT) is the most commonly mentioned potential seventh state of Australia. The most common proposed name for the state is Northern Australia.
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.