Speaker's Welcome
THE
HONOURABLE JANE AAGAARD, MLA
On behalf of the 25 Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern
Territory, welcome to our Parliamentary Internet.
The Legislative
Assembly of the Northern Territory is one of the newest Parliaments in Australia
and is housed in the newest Parliament House building.
From 1948
to 1974, the Northern Territory was governed by a Legislative Council which
comprised of elected members and members appointed by the Commonwealth Government,
usually by virtue of their positions within the Commonwealth Public Service.
Until 1965, the Administrator, who has a similar role to a Governor in the
States, acted as presiding officer of the Legislative Council. In 1965,
the Northern Territory (Administration) Act of the Commonwealth was amended
to allow a President of the Council to be elected by elected Members.
Following
protracted negotiations with the Commonwealth Government, a general election
was conducted on 19 October 1974 to establish a fully-elected Legislative
Assembly comprised of 19 members. The election resulted in 17 Country Liberal
Party Members and two Independent Members of the Assembly.
The First
Assembly had limited powers, its leader was known as the Majority Leader,
and much of its business involved the reconstruction of Darwin following
the chaos caused by Cyclone Tracy on 24 December 1974.
In 1978,
the Commonwealth Government passed the Northern Territory (Self-Government)
Act , which resulted in the Northern Territory Parliament being given extended
powers and Self-Government was granted on 1 July 1978.
At the
transition to Self-Government, the Commonwealth Government maintained powers
relating to Aboriginal land rights, mining of uranium, industrial relations
and control of Kakadu and Uluru National Parks. The Commonwealth also retains
the right to disallow Northern Territory legislation within six months of
it being passed.
An electoral
redistribution conducted in 1982 resulted in the membership of the Legislative
Assembly being increased from 19 to 25 after the General Election of 3 December
1983.
For the
purposes of financial arrangements, the Northern Territory has been regarded
as a State by the Commonwealth Government since 1988.
The current
Membership of the Legislative Assembly is 19 Australian Labor Party Members,
4 Country Liberal Party Members and 2 Independent Members. Members are directly
elected for four years and the Speaker is elected by Members. The Administrator
appoints Ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Australian Labor
Party achieved victory in the 2001 election after 27 years of CLP rule.
The composition of the new Parliament reflects the multicultural nature
of the Territory - there are five Aboriginal members and two of ethnic origin.
Again, women have strong positions of importance, winning 10 of the 25 seats.
Five of the ten female members have attained Office within the Parliament,
these are the Chief Minister, the Speaker, Minister for Natural Resources,
Minister for Family and Community Services and the Leader of the Opposition.
It is expected
the next major transition in the Northern Territory's political development
will be the achievement of Statehood, which will provide Territorians with
the same rights and powers of citizens of other Australian States.
The Honourable, Jane Aagaard, MLA
Speaker
