Parliament of the Northern Territory

Parliament of the Northern Territory
Government   Labor (14) Opposition   Country Liberal (7) Crossbench   Independent (4) [a]
Elections
Voting system	Full preferential voting
First election	19 October 1974
Last election	22 August 2020
Next election	24 August 2024
Meeting place
Parliament House, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Website
www.parliament.nt.gov.au

The Parliament of the Northern Territory is the

.

The leader of the party with the most seats in the Legislative Assembly is invited by the Administrator to form the

.

Source of legislative powers

The Parliament of the Northern Territory, which comprises the Legislative Assembly and the Administrator, exercises the legislative power in the Territory which are similar to those of the Australian 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

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

From 1911 to 1947 the laws of the Northern Territory were made by the

.

In 1947 the Northern Territory (Administration) Act was amended to provide for a territory legislature. The first legislative council for the Northern Territory was created in Darwin in March 1948. It consisted of seven official members appointed by the

, six elected members and the administrator as president of the council.

In 1974 the Legislative Council was replaced by a fully elected Legislative Assembly with nineteen members.

From 1974 until 2001, the Assembly was controlled by the conservative

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 has been held by CLP-turned-independent MP Kezia Purick since 23 October 2012. Despite Labor's massive majority following the 2016 election, the incoming Labor government re-appointed Purick as Speaker.^[3]

In 2020, Purick's role as Speaker was revoked as a result of an ICAC investigation.

is currently acting speaker until the parliament resumes in October to elect a new presiding officer.

See also

• 2020 Northern Territory general election
• Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, 2020–2024
• Northern Territory Government
• Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
• Northern Territory Legislative Council
• Parliament House, Darwin
• Parliaments of the Australian states and territories

Notes

References

External links

• https://parliament.nt.gov.au