Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

(Redirected from Parliament of the Northern Territory) Unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory, Australia

Legislative Assembly
15th Assembly
Coat of Arms of the Northern Territory
Legislative Assembly logo
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	1974; 50 years ago (1974)
Leadership
Speaker	Robyn Lambley since 15 October 2024
Deputy Speaker	TBD
Leader of Government Business	Steve Edgington, Country Liberal
Government Whip	Andrew Mackay, Country Liberal since 24 August 2024
Structure
Seats	25

Political groups	Government (17) Country Liberal (17) Opposition (4) Labor (4) Crossbench (4) Greens (1) Independent (3)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	Full preferential voting
First election	19 October 1974
Last election	24 August 2024
Next election	22 August 2028
Meeting place

Parliament House, Darwin
Website
parliament.nt.gov.au
Constitution
Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth)

The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory (also known as the Parliament of the Northern Territory) is the unicameral legislature of Australia’s Northern Territory. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method for the Assembly is the full-preferential voting system, having previously been optional preferential voting. Elections are on the fourth Saturday in August of the fourth year after the previous election, but can be earlier in the event of a no-confidence vote in the government. The most recent election for the Legislative Assembly was the 2024 election held on 24 August. The next election is scheduled for 26 August 2028.

Persons who are qualified under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to vote for a member for the Northern Territory in the House of Representatives are qualified to vote at an election for the Legislative Assembly. Voting is compulsory for all those over 18 years of age. Since 2004, elections have been conducted by the Northern Territory Electoral Commission, which also organises regular electoral redistributions.

Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly become laws once given assent by the Administrator of the Northern Territory, the representative of the Commonwealth Government and the Crown in right of the Northern Territory.

Current distribution of seats

As of 5 September 2024, the current distribution of seats is:

Party		Seats
Party		Current Assembly (Total 25 Seats)
	Country Liberal	17	17
	Labor	4	4
	Independent	3	3
	Greens	1	1

13 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation.

Powers

In 1978, the Northern Territory was granted limited self-government by the Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1974 (Cth), an act of the federal parliament. The federal government retains control of certain legislative areas, including Aboriginal land, industrial relations, national parks and uranium mining. For inter-governmental financial purposes the Northern Territory has been regarded by the Commonwealth as a State since 1 July 1988.

All questions arising in the Assembly are determined by a majority of votes and the Speaker, or other member presiding, is also entitled to vote. Where there is an equality of votes the Speaker, or other member presiding, shall have a casting vote.

Legislation passed by the Assembly requires assent by the Administrator of the Northern Territory, acting on the advice of the Government, a practice analogous to the royal assent of an Australian state governor. Under Australian constitutional practice, assent is usually a formality. After the Administrator gives assent, the Governor-General of Australia also has the power to reject a law on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia and the federal Cabinet, but this power has also been only rarely exercised. The federal government also retains power to legislate for the Territory in all matters, including the right to override legislation passed by the Assembly.

The party or coalition with the most seats in the Assembly is invited by the Administrator to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian political parties traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the party commanding a majority will pass through the Legislative Assembly.

Source of legislative power

The Legislative Assembly acting with the assent of the administrator is vested with general legislative power, similar to that of the 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 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 law, the federal Parliament passed the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997, 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

When South Australia turned the Northern Territory over to Commonwealth hands in 1911, the federal government ran the Territory directly through the relevant minister, and the only elective body in the Territory was the Darwin town council. The territory was split in 1927 into the territories of North Australia and Central Australia, both of which had a four-member Advisory Council that was half-elected and half-appointed; in addition, development of North Australia was left to the locally-based North Australia Commission. These changes were reversed in 1931, with the Northern Territory reformed and the federal government resuming control until the 1947 formation of the Northern Territory Legislative Council, which was half-elected and half-appointed.

The Legislative Assembly was created in 1974 by the Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1974 (Cth), an act of the Australian federal parliament, which was a fully-elected body in contrast to the Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly consisted of 19 fully elected members, but initially lacked significant powers, until limited self-government was granted in 1978. For the 1983 election, the number of members was increased to 25.

From its inception prior to the 1974 election until the 2001 election, the Legislative Assembly was controlled by the conservative Country Liberal Party, which since 1979 has been affiliated with the federal Liberal–National coalition. In 2001, the Labor Party won a one-seat majority, and Clare Martin became the Territory's first Labor and first female chief minister. At the 2005 election, the Martin-led ALP won 19 seats to the CLP's 4; however, Martin resigned in 2007 and was succeeded by Paul Henderson as ALP leader, and retained government with another one-seat majority at the 2008 election. Labor lost its majority when Marion Scrymgour went to the cross-benches as an independent. She re-joined the party after Alison Anderson left the party to sit as an independent. Anderson joined the CLP in September 2011. The 2012 election resulted in the return of the CLP under Terry Mills with 16 seats to the ALP's 8. Mills resigned in 2013 and Adam Giles became CLP leader. The CLP was reduced to a one-seat majority in 2014 when three CLP members defected to join the Palmer United Party. One defector later rejoined the CLP. After further defections, CLP numbers fell to minority government status in July 2015.

The 2016 election saw a landslide CLP defeat which brought Labor to power led by Chief Minister Michael Gunner. The position of Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was held by CLP-turned-independent MP Kezia Purick from 23 October 2012. Despite Labor's massive majority following the 2016 election, the incoming Labor government re-appointed Purick as Speaker. Following an ICAC investigation into allegations Kezia Purick had engaged in corrupt conduct, she resigned, and the role was filled by Chansey Paech on 23 June 2020. Following the 2020 election, Paech resigned in September 2020 to serve as a minister in Gunner's cabinet, and Ngaree Ah Kit was acting speaker for a month until her substantive election on 20 October 2020.

Notes

Current independent MLAs: Justine Davis (Johnston), Yingiya Mark Guyula (Mulka), Robyn Lambley (Araluen)

References

"Parliament in the Northern Territory" (PDF). Parliamentary Education Services: Department of the Legislative Assembly. p. 3.
Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth) s 17
Electoral Act 2004
"About the Northern Territory Electoral Commission". NT Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
"Role of the Administrator". Government House Northern Territory. 22 September 2023.
"Members - 14th Assembly". Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory Parliament. 9 September 2024.
link
Northern Territory (Self‑Government) Act 1978 (Cth) s 6
Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth)
Section 138B of the Electoral Amendment Act 1982 (No.73 of 1982)
Kezia Purick quits Northern Territory Country Liberals party, Government loses one-seat majority: ABC 20 July 2015
Adam Giles would 'love to go to an early election' after Kezia Purick resigns Country Liberals party: ABC 20 July 2015
NT Labor Government announces female-dominated Cabinet: ABC 11 September 2016

External links

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

12°28′00″S 130°50′34″E / 12.466655°S 130.842748°E / -12.466655; 130.842748

v t e Members of the Parliament of the Northern Territory
Legislative Council	1947–1949 1949–1951 1951–1954 1954–1957 1957–1960 1960–1962 1962–1965 1965–1968 1968–1971 1971–1974
Legislative Assembly	1974–1977 1977–1980 1980–1983 1983–1987 1987–1990 1990–1994 1994–1997 1997–2001 2001–2005 2005–2008 2008–2012 2012–2016 2016–2020 2020–2024 2024–2028

v t e Government of the Northern Territory
Executive	Administrator Chief Minister Deputy Chief Minister Cabinet Police
Legislative	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

v t e Current members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
Country Liberal (17)	Marie-Clare Boothby Joshua Burgoyne Robyn Cahill Oly Carlson Jinson Charls Steve Edgington Lia Finocchiaro Jo Hersey Clinton Howe Matthew Kerle Andrew Mackay Gerard Maley Brian O'Gallagher Khoda Patel Tanzil Rahman Bill Yan Laurie Zio
Labor (4)	Manuel Brown Chansey Paech Selena Uibo Dheran Young
Greens (1)	Kat McNamara
Independent (3)	Yingiya Mark Guyula Robyn Lambley Justine Davis

Politics of the Northern Territory

Executive

Legislative

Political parties

Active	Animal Justice Party Country Liberal Party Federation Party Greens Labor Party Shooters and Fishers Party
Defunct	Australia's First Nations Political Party Ban Fracking Fix Crime Protect Water Territory Alliance North Australia Party Northern Territory Nationals

Elections

v t e Northern Territory
Topics	Crime Energy Fire and Rescue Service Flag Geography History Local Government Police Sport Symbols Territory Government Territory Parliament
Regions	Alice Springs Region Arnhem Land Barkly Tableland Darwin Region Katherine Region
Major settlements	Alice Springs Darwin Katherine Nhulunbuy Palmerston Tennant Creek List of places in the Northern Territory by population

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