View source for Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

{{Short description|Unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox legislature
| background_color = #307159
 | name          = Legislative Assembly
 | legislature   = [[Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, 2024–2028|15th Assembly]]
 | coa_pic       = Northern_Territory_Coat_of_Arms.svg
 |coa_caption=[[Coat of Arms of the Northern Territory]]
 | coa_res       = 190px
 | logo_pic      = NT Legislative Assembly logo.png
 | logo_res      = 90px
 | session_room  = Darwin (AU), Parliament House -- 2019 -- 4336-8.jpg
 | foundation    = {{start date and age|1974}}
 |logo_caption=Legislative Assembly logo| house_type    = [[Unicameralism|Unicameral]]
 | leader1_type  = [[Speaker of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly|Speaker]]
 | leader1       = [[Robyn Lambley]]
 | party1        = 
 | election1     = 15 October 2024
 | leader2_type  = Deputy Speaker
 | leader2       = TBD
 | party2        = 
 | election2     = 
 | leader3_type  = Leader of Government Business
 | leader3       = [[Steve Edgington]]
 | party3        = [[Country Liberal Party|Country Liberal]]
 | election3     =
 | leader4_type  = Government Whip
 | leader4       = [[Andrew Mackay (Australian politician)|Andrew Mackay]]
 | party4        = [[Country Liberal Party|Country Liberal]]
 | election4     = 24 August 2024
 | members       = '''25'''
 | structure1    = [[File:Northern Territory - Legislative Assembly (Post-2024 Election).svg|200px]] | structure1_res = 175px
 | political_groups1 = '''[[Government of the Northern Territory|Government]] (17)'''<br/>
* {{color box|{{party color|Country Liberal Party}}}} [[Country Liberal Party|Country Liberal]] (17)
'''[[Opposition (Northern Territory)|Opposition]] (4)'''<br/>
* {{color box|#f00011}} [[Territory Labor Party|Labor]] (4)
'''Crossbench (4)'''<br/>
* {{color box|{{party color|Australian Greens}}}} [[NT Greens|Greens]] ([[Kat McNamara|1]])
* {{color box|{{party color|Independent}}}} [[Independent (politics)|Independent]] (3){{efn|Current [[Independent politician|independent]] MLAs: [[Justine Davis]] ([[Electoral division of Johnston|Johnston]]), [[Yingiya Mark Guyula]] ([[Electoral division of Mulka|Mulka]]), [[Robyn Lambley]] ([[Electoral division of Araluen|Araluen]])}}
 | voting_system1 =  [[Instant-runoff voting|Full preferential voting]]
 | term_length = 4 years
 | first_election1 = [[1974 Northern Territory general election|19 October 1974]]
 | last_election1 = [[2024 Northern Territory general election|24 August 2024]]
 | next_election1 = [[2028 Northern Territory general election|22 August 2028]]
 | meeting_place = [[Parliament House, Darwin|Parliament House]], [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] 
 | website       = {{URL|https://parliament.nt.gov.au/}}
|constitution={{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|nta1978425|Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978}}}}
The '''Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory''' (also known as the '''Parliament of the Northern Territory'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parliament in the Northern Territory |url=https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/819178/Secondary-school-information-book.pdf |publisher=Parliamentary Education Services: Department of the Legislative Assembly |page=3}}</ref>) is the [[unicameral]] legislature of Australia’s [[Northern Territory]]. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in [[single-member electorate]]s for four-year terms.<ref>{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|nta1978425|Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978|17}}</ref> The voting method for the Assembly is the [[full-preferential voting]] system, having previously been [[optional preferential voting]]. Elections are on the fourth Saturday in August of the fourth year after the previous election, but can be earlier in the event of a [[no confidence|no-confidence]] vote in the [[Government of the Northern Territory|government]]. The most recent election for the Legislative Assembly was the [[2024 Northern Territory general_election|2024 election held on 24 August.]] The next election is scheduled for 26 August 2028.

Persons who are qualified under the ''[[Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918]]'' to vote for a member for the Northern Territory in the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] are qualified to vote at an election for the Legislative Assembly. Voting is compulsory for all those over 18 years of age. Since 2004, elections have been conducted by the [[Northern Territory Electoral Commission]], which also organises regular electoral redistributions.<ref>''Electoral Act 2004''</ref><ref>{{cite web
      | url         = http://www.ntec.nt.gov.au/NTEC/Pages/default.aspx
      | title       = About the Northern Territory Electoral Commission
      | publisher   = NT Electoral Commission
      | access-date  = 2015-07-04}}</ref>

Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly become laws once given assent by the [[Administrator of the Northern Territory]], the representative of the [[Commonwealth Government]] and the [[Monarchy of Australia|Crown in right of the Northern Territory]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-09-22 |title=Role of the Administrator |url=https://govhouse.nt.gov.au/the-administrator/role-of-the-administrator |access-date= |website=Government House Northern Territory |language=en}}</ref>

==Current distribution of seats==
{{As of|2024|09|05}}, the current distribution of seats is:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://parliament.nt.gov.au/members/by-name|title=Members - 14th Assembly|work=Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory Parliament|date=9 September 2024 }}</ref><ref>[https://parliament.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/932971/List-of-Members-Fourteenth-Assembly.pdf link]</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Party
! colspan=2 | Seats
|-
! colspan="2" | Current Assembly ''(Total 25 Seats)''
|- 
| {{Australian party style|CLP}} (Government) | 
| align="left" |[[Country Liberal Party|Country Liberal]] || {{bartable|17||25||background-color:{{Australian politics/party colours|CLP}}}}
|- 
| {{Australian party style|Labor}} (Opposition) | 
| [[Territory Labor Party|Labor]]|| {{bartable|4||25||background-color:{{Australian politics/party colours|Labor}}}}
|- 
| {{Australian party style|Independent}} | 
| [[Independent politician|Independent]] || {{bartable|3||25||background-color:{{Australian politics/party colours|Independent}}}} 
|-
| {{Australian party style|Greens}} |
| [[Northern Territory Greens|Greens]] || 
{{bartable|1||25||background-color:{{Australian politics/party colours|Greens}}}}
|}
* 13 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation.

==Powers==
[[File:Legislative Assembly NT Chamber.jpg|left|thumb|The legislative assembly chamber]]
In 1978, the Northern Territory was granted limited self-government by the ''[https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2004A00089 Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1974]'' (Cth), an act of the [[Parliament of Australia|federal parliament]]. The federal government retains control of certain legislative areas, including Aboriginal land, industrial relations, national parks and uranium mining. For inter-governmental financial purposes the Northern Territory has been regarded by the Commonwealth as a State since 1 July 1988.

All questions arising in the Assembly are determined by a majority of votes and the Speaker, or other member presiding, is also entitled to vote. Where there is an equality of votes the Speaker, or other member presiding, shall have a casting vote.

Legislation passed by the Assembly requires assent by the [[Administrator of the Northern Territory]], acting on the advice of the Government, a practice analogous to the [[royal assent]] of an Australian state governor. Under Australian constitutional practice, assent is usually a formality. After the Administrator gives assent, the [[Governor-General of Australia]] also has the power to reject a law on the advice of the [[Prime Minister of Australia]] and the federal Cabinet, but this power has also been only rarely exercised. The federal government also retains power to legislate for the Territory in all matters, including the right to override legislation passed by the Assembly.

The party or coalition with the most seats in the Assembly is invited by the Administrator to form government. The leader of that party subsequently becomes the [[Chief Minister of the Northern Territory]], and their senior colleagues become ministers responsible for various portfolios. As Australian political parties traditionally vote along party lines, most legislation introduced by the party commanding a majority will pass through the Legislative Assembly.

== Source of legislative power ==
[[File:Acts_of_the_Northern_Territory_Legislative_Assembly_by_year_(1989-2024).png|thumb|Bar chart showing the number of acts of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly by year (1989-2024)]]
The Legislative Assembly acting with the assent of the administrator is vested with general legislative power, similar to that of the state parliaments.<ref>{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|nta1978425|Northern Territory (Self‑Government) Act 1978|6}}</ref> 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 [[Australian Parliament]] 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 [[Euthanasia|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==
When [[South Australia]] turned the Northern Territory over to Commonwealth hands in 1911, the federal government ran the Territory directly through the relevant minister, and the only elective body in the Territory was the Darwin town council. The territory was split in 1927 into the territories of [[North Australia (territory)|North Australia]] and [[Central Australia (territory)|Central Australia]], both of which had a four-member Advisory Council that was half-elected and half-appointed; in addition, development of North Australia was left to the locally-based North Australia Commission. These changes were reversed in 1931, with the Northern Territory reformed and the federal government resuming control until the 1947 formation of the [[Northern Territory Legislative Council]], which was half-elected and half-appointed.

[[File:The first Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, 1976.jpg|thumb|The first Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, 1976|left]]
The Legislative Assembly was created in 1974 by the ''Northern Territory (Administration) Act 1974'' (Cth), an act of the Australian federal parliament, which was a fully-elected body in contrast to the Legislative Council. The Legislative Assembly consisted of 19 fully elected members, but initially lacked significant powers, until limited self-government was granted in 1978.<ref>''Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978'' (Cth)</ref> For the [[1983 Northern Territory general election|1983 election]], the number of members was increased to 25.<ref>Section 138B of the ''Electoral Amendment Act 1982'' (No.73 of 1982)</ref>

From its inception prior to the [[1974 Northern Territory general election|1974 election]] until the [[2001 Northern Territory general election|2001 election]], the Legislative Assembly was controlled by the conservative [[Country Liberal Party]], which since 1979 has been affiliated with the federal [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]–[[National Party of Australia|National]] [[Coalition (Australia)|coalition]]. In 2001, the [[Australian Labor Party (Northern Territory Branch)|Labor Party]] won a one-seat majority, and [[Clare Martin]] became the Territory's first Labor and first female chief minister. At the [[2005 Northern Territory general election|2005 election]], the Martin-led ALP won 19 seats to the CLP's 4; however, Martin resigned in 2007 and was succeeded by [[Paul Henderson (politician)|Paul Henderson]] as ALP leader, and retained government with another one-seat majority at the [[2008 Northern Territory general election|2008 election]]. Labor lost its majority when [[Marion Scrymgour]] went to the cross-benches as an independent. She re-joined the party after [[Alison Anderson]] left the party to sit as an independent. Anderson joined the CLP in September 2011. The [[2012 Northern Territory general election|2012 election]] resulted in the return of the CLP under [[Terry Mills (Australian politician)|Terry Mills]] with 16 seats to the ALP's 8. Mills resigned in 2013 and [[Adam Giles]] became CLP leader. The CLP was reduced to a one-seat majority in 2014 when three CLP members defected to join the [[Palmer United Party]]. One defector later rejoined the CLP. After further defections, CLP numbers fell to [[minority government]] status in July 2015.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-20/kezia-purick-quits-country-liberals-nt-government-loses-majority/6632916 Kezia Purick quits Northern Territory Country Liberals party, Government loses one-seat majority: ABC 20 July 2015]</ref><ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-20/adam-giles-wants-early-election-after-kezia-purick-leaves-clp/6634496 Adam Giles would 'love to go to an early election' after Kezia Purick resigns Country Liberals party: ABC 20 July 2015]</ref>

The [[2016 Northern Territory general election|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]] was held by CLP-turned-independent MP [[Kezia Purick]] from 23 October 2012. Despite Labor's massive majority following the 2016 election, the incoming Labor government re-appointed Purick as Speaker.<ref>[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-11/northern-territory-government-announces-new-cabinet/7834466 NT Labor Government announces female-dominated Cabinet: ABC 11 September 2016]</ref> Following an ICAC investigation into allegations [[Kezia Purick]] had engaged in corrupt conduct, she resigned, and the role was filled by [[Chansey Paech]] on 23 June 2020. Following the 2020 election, Paech resigned in September 2020 to serve as a minister in Gunner's cabinet, and [[Ngaree Ah Kit]] was acting speaker for a month until her substantive election on 20 October 2020.

==See also==
* [[2024 Northern Territory general election]]
* [[Parliaments of the Australian states and territories]]
* [[Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly]]
* [[Northern Territory ministries]]
* [[List of museums in the Northern Territory]]
* [[List of Northern Territory by-elections]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://parliament.nt.gov.au/ Northern Territory Legislative Assembly]

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{{Members of the Parliament of the Northern Territory}}
{{Government of the Northern Territory}}
{{NTCurrentMPs}}
{{Politics of the Northern Territory}}
{{Northern Territory}}
{{Parliaments of Australia}}

[[Category:Parliament of the Northern Territory]]
[[Category:1974 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Museums in the Northern Territory]]