Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Robyn Smith
Key terms/names
Aboriginal land councils, Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth)
(ALRA), administrator, Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (UK) (the
Constitution), Euthanasia Laws Act 1997 (Cth), Northern Territory Acceptance Act
1910 (Cth), Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1910 (Cth), Northern Territory
National Emergency Response Act 2007 (Cth), Northern Territory Representation Act
1888 (SA), Northern Territory Representation Act 1922 (Cth), Northern Territory
(Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth), Northern Territory Surrender Act 1907 (SA),
Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995 (NT) (ROTI), unicameral
The Northern Territory (NT) comprises one-fifth of Australia’s land mass and
has a population of 244,300, 1 of which one-third is Aboriginal. Representative
government is a relatively recent phenomenon for residents of the NT, who endured
government from afar until the 1970s and, to a certain extent, still do.
LikeotherpartsofthecountrylyingnorthoftheTropicofCapricorn,ithas
fleeting moments at the top of the national political agenda – most notably at times
of disaster – before resuming its status as a somewhat awkward remote irritant.
The NT Legislative Assembly is a unicameral parliament, established after the
Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth) (Self-Government Act) of the
Smith, Robyn (2019). Northern Territory. In Peter J. Chen, Nicholas Barry, John R. Butcher, David
Clune, Ian Cook, Adele Garnier, Yvonne Haigh, Sara C. Motta and Marija Taflaga, eds. Australian
politics and policy: senior edition. Sydney: Sydney University Press. DOI: 10.30722/sup.9781743326671
1 ABS 2016. Note that the population has been in decline since then as mining projects have been
completed. Further, there is a significant ‘fly-in, fly-out’ (transient) workforce on mining projects.
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