Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Australian Politics and Policy
federal parliament conferred limited self-governing powers on the NT. The Assembly
is comprised of 25 representatives of single-member electoral divisions; each
division has an average 5,140 electors. 2
History
The NT was part of the colony of New South Wales (NSW) from 1849 until 1863. 3
It then became part of South Australia (SA) until 1911, 4 making it part of SA at
Federation in 1901.
Under the Northern Territory Representation Act 1888 (SA), the NT was a single
electoraldistrictthatelectedtwomemberstotheSAHouseofAssemblyand,proportionately,
membership of the Legislative Council. From 1901 until 1911, NT residents,
who had been extended full adult suffrage, 5 voted for the six senators representing SA
and, from 1903, the NT was included in SA’s federal division of Grey. 6
In 1911, the NT was ceded by SA to the Australian government. Under this
regime, the NT had no representation at all in the federal parliament and no
state-like legislature. It is arguable that this disenfranchisement was the result
of the White Australia policy, enacted in 1901, because the non-Indigenous NT
population was overwhelmingly dominated by Asians, 7 which would inevitably
have resulted in non-white representation in the federal parliament. 8
In preparation for the change to Commonwealth control, the federal parliament
enacted the Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1910 (Cth), which provided
for government in the NT headed by an administrator appointed by the governorgeneral.
9
After bitter objections from NT residents, a single member of the House of
Representatives was granted by the Northern Territory Representation Act 1922
(Cth). That representative had no vote. In 1936, the NT representative was granted
a vote, but only on ordinances setting down laws for the NT.
Legislative Council
A 13-person Legislative Council was established in 1947. The Commonwealth
retained absolute control by providing for the election of six members and the
2 Redistribution Committee 2019.
3 State Archives of New South Wales n.d.
4 Jaensch and Smith 2015, xi.
5 This included Aboriginal people – possibly as an administrative oversight – although they were
unaware of their right and not at all familiar with the electoral process.
6 National Archives of Australia n.d.
7 Principally Chinese, engaged in mining and commerce, but also Japanese, engaged in the
pearling industry, and Malays, Filipinos and Indonesians, engaged in fishing enterprises.
8 See, for example, Egan 2017, 27, 43.
9 Jaensch and Smith 2015, xi.
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