Australian Politics and Policy - Senior, 2019a

Northern Territory
appointment of seven members. The Council had the power to make laws for
the‘peace,orderandgoodgovernmentoftheTerritorysubjecttoassentbythe
Administrator and/or the pleasure of the Governor-General’. 10 The Council met for
the first time in 1948.
Disaffection with the lack of autonomy remained, and, in April 1958, all six
elected members of the Council resigned in protest. All were re-elected, five
unopposed, in June 1958. 11 Inthesameyear,theNT’smemberoftheHouseof
Representativeswasallowedtovote‘onanyproposedlawormatterrelatingsolely
or principally to the Territory’. 12
The following year, the composition of the Legislative Council was changed
to eight elected members, six official members and three non-official members.
Commonwealth control was retained by appointing the administrator to be the
president of the Council with two votes, a deliberative and a casting vote. 13 At
the same time, an Administrator’s Council was created as an advisory body and
comprised two official (appointed) members and three elected members.
In 1965, the administrator was replaced as a member and president of the Legislative
Council. The president was, for the first time, an elected member of the Council.
In 1968, composition was changed again: non-official appointed members were
replaced by elected members, resulting in 11 elected members and six appointed
members. For the first time, the Legislative Council was under NT control. In that
year, the NT’s member of the House of Representatives was granted full voting rights.
Legislative Assembly
On 20 November 1974, the first fully elected Legislative Assembly, comprising 19
members, convened. This resulted in the NT’s first executive. In 1977, the federal
parliament enacted the Self-Government Act. On 1 July 1978, the NT became selfgoverning
and the NT government was given authority and responsibility for the
finances of the territory. In 1982, membership of the Legislative Assembly was
increased to 25.
Limitations of self-government
WhentheCommonwealthcededcontroloftheNTtotheLegislativeAssembly,
certain state-like powers were not transferred. These were: Aboriginal land rights,
industrial relations, national parks and uranium mining. Those limitations remain.
10 Jaensch and Smith 2015, xii.
11 Jaensch and Smith 2015, xii.
12 Jaensch and Smith 2015, xii.
13 This anomaly was carried over at the time of self-government. The speaker of the Legislative
Assembly, unlike speakers of other parliaments, has two votes: a deliberative and, in the event of
a tied vote, a casting one.
235