Nearly 25 years ago, the Northern Territory narrowly missed out on its “ultimate constitutional objective” of becoming Australia’s seventh state.
A 1998 advert urging people to vote against statehood.(Supplied: Library & Archives NT)
The 1998 statehood referendum was the culmination of years upon years of workshopping and parliamentary reports, and only failed by 4,000 votes.
But ask any Territorian today and they’ll tell you it’s an issue well down their list of priorities.
So how did this happen? And was it ever feasible for a vast landmass so sparsely populated to be able to govern as a state?
With the Territory Rights Bill passing the lower house earlier this month, a former politician bizarrely calling for it to return to South Australia, and concerns about a lack of representation in federal parliament, we answer your questions about whether the Northern Territorycould ever become a state, and what it would change if it did.
How did the statehood movement start?
From Federation until 1911, the Northern Territory was part of South Australia.
After that, it became a territory, controlled directly by the federal government.
However, the statehood movement only really got going after the NT was granted self-government on July 1, 1978.
After the NT was granted self-government in 1978, statehood was quickly embraced by the Everingham government (above).(NT Archives Service)
By 1986, the territory’s third chief minister Stephen Hatton was describing statehood as the “ultimate constitutional objective”.
“The Territory has long been preparing to take its place as an equal partner in the Australian Federation; the time has now arrived for it to do so,” Mr Hatton told parliament.
Mr Hatton argued that statehood would give the territory “the same degree of self-determination” as everyone else.
What makes a territory different from a state?
Unlike states, federal parliament can override laws in both territories.
The NT learned this firsthand in 1996 when its voluntary assisted dying laws – a world-first at the time – were struck down by the Commonwealth.
Residents also have less of a say in referendums. Unlike those in states, their votes are only counted in the national majority, and not also part of the majority of voters in the majority of states.
Another big difference is a lack of federal representation—the NT and ACT only have two senators each, compared to the states’ 12 apiece.
Marshall Perron, the NT’s chief minister from 1988 to 1995, said the jurisdiction’s small population was one of the major obstacles to the territory achieving statehood.
“The states are supposed to have equal representation in the senate, of course,” he said.
“By most people’s opinion, it’s a bit ridiculous for the territory to have 12 senators when it has the population the size of a suburb in Sydney.”
Former NT chief minister Marshall Perron.(ABC News: Rhiannon Shine)
That said, advocates for statehood have suggested the NT could have four senators instead of 12; and the Commonwealth already funds the territory as if it were a state.
So, how could the NT become a state?
Charles Darwin University political expert Rolf Gerritsen said in practical terms, the NT already operated a lot like a state.
But constitutionally it was not, he said, meaning its sovereignty was fragile.
There are two ways the NT could become a state: through a referendum to change its status in the constitution, or for the Commonwealth parliament to pass a bill declaring the territory a state.
Mr Gerritsen said while a referendum would be much harder to get over the line, that was the way to true statehood, as a bill would only establish the NT as a second-class state.
“Parliament can say it’s amending the Northern Territory Act to make it a state. But in 20 years’ time, another Commonwealth Parliament may come along and decide to repeal the act granting us statehood, and return us to territory status. So we [wouldn’t] have sovereignty,” he said.
John Howard and Shane Stone both presided over referenda during their terms, both of which were unsuccessful.(AAP)
What happened at the referendum?
In 1998, the issue was put to the people by a Country Liberal Party (CLP) government led by Shane Stone.
The result was a narrow loss, with 51.9 per cent of respondents voting against compared to 48.1 per cent for.
Mr Perron said the “yes” vote’s failure had set the movement back considerably, and compared the result to the failed 1999 referendum for Australia to become a republic.
“Once it dies, once it got a no vote, it just goes off the agenda completely,” he said.
But he said that he didn’t necessarily spell the end of the movement.
“It hasn’t come back on the agenda in Australia yet, but it will,” he said.
Former prime minister Bob Hawke and his treasurer Paul Keating struck a deal with the Northern Territory to fund it as if it were a state.(National Archives of Australia)
What has driven the push for statehood?
One of the NT’s longest serving politicians, Robyn Lambley, said the territory had viewed itself differently in the ’80s and ’90s, when statehood became a hot topic of discussion.
Enthusiasm for the territory’s future was high in the 1980s and 90s.(Supplied: Library & Archives NT)
“There was a lot of speculation around the Northern Territory being a great frontier, the fact they were on the cusp of a booming economy and a booming population, and that we would grow to a size that would certainly be able to compete with other states ,” she said.
“And that just hasn’t happened.”
“The drive for statehood was originally very exciting and promising and in keeping with where people saw the territory going in the next 10, 20, 30, 40 years, and that hasn’t come to fruition.”
In contrast, there’s been a dramatic decline in enthusiasm for statehood in the decades since.
This was symbolized when the CLP, which had long pursued statehood, seemingly lost interest during its last term in power in 2012-16, with its statehood minister in 2015 unable to articulate whether the CLP still supported the issue.
The portfolio died out altogether not long after that, including under the subsequent Labor government.
Is statehood still a possibility?
For now, the goal of statehood for the NT remains far off.
The popular view is that it is still an aspiration, but one which would take a huge amount of population growth and social and economic development, as well as public education, before it could be realized.
NT historian Peter Forrest, who was present at the official ceremony to celebrate self-government back in 1978, said after almost 50 years, self-government in the NT – let alone statehood – had actually turned to disappointment for some.
“I meet old timers who yearn for a return to the Commonwealth days, which is a real turnaround,” he said.
And bizarrely, the idea of the NT re-unifying with SA – after more than a century of separation – has recently raised its head, with former SA deputy premier Vickie Chapman suggesting it earlier in her farewell speech to parliament.
But for the moment at least, it seems most NT residents are happy with the way things are, with the issue of statehood having little affect on everyday life in the territory.
The Republican matchup in the Wisconsin governor’s race on Tuesday features competing candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump and his estranged vice president, Mike Pence. Democrats are picking a candidate to face two-term GOP Sen. Ron Johnson for control of the closely divided chamber.
Meanwhile, voters in Vermont are choosing a replacement for US Sen. patrick leahy as the chamber’s longest-serving member retires. In Minnesota, US Rep. Ilhan Omar faces a Democratic primary challenger who helped defeat a voter referendum to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety.
What to watch in Tuesday’s primary elections in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut:
WISCONSIN
Construction company co-owner Tim Michels has Trump’s endorsement in the governor’s race and has been spending millions of his own money, touting both the former president’s backing and his years working to build his family’s business into Wisconsin’s largest construction company. Michels casts himself as an outsider, although he previously lost a campaign to oust then-US Sen. Russ Feingold in 2004 and has long been a prominent GOP donor.
Establishment Republicans including Pence and former Gov. Scott Walker have endorsed former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefischwho along with Walker, survived a 2012 recall effort. She argues she has the experience and knowledge to pursue conservative priorities, including dismantling the bipartisan commission that runs elections.
With Senate control at stake, Democrats will also make their pick to take on Johnson. Democratic support coalesced around Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes beats in the race, when his three top rivals dropped out and threw their support to him. He would become the state’s first Black senator if elected.
Several lesser-known candidates remain in the primary, but Johnson and Republicans have treated Barnes as the nominee, casting him as too liberal for Wisconsin, a state Trump won in 2016 but lost in 2020.
Four Democrats are also running in Wisconsin’s 3rd Congressional District, a seat that opened up with the retirement of veteran Democratic US Rep. Ron Kind. The district has been trending Republican, and Derrick Van Orden — who narrowly lost to Kind in 2020 and has Trump’s endorsement — is running unopposed.
MINNESOTA
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz faces a little-known opponent as he seeks a second term. His likely challenger is Republican Scott Jensena physician and former state lawmaker who has made vaccine skepticism a centerpiece of his campaign and faces token opposition.
Both men have been waging a virtual campaign for months, with Jensen attacking Walz for his management of the pandemic and hammering the governor for rising crime around Minneapolis. Walz has highlighted his own support of abortion rights and suggested that Jensen would be a threat to chip away at the procedure’s legality in Minnesota.
Crime has emerged as the biggest issue in Rep. Omar’s Democratic primary. She faces a challenge from former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, who opposes the movement to defund the police and last year helped defeat efforts to replace the city’s police department. Omar, who supported the referendum, has a substantial money advantage and is expected to benefit from a strong grassroots operation.
The most confusing part of Tuesday’s ballot was for the 1st Congressional District seat that was held by US Rep. Jim Hagedorn, who died earlier this year from cancer. Republican former state Rep. Brad Finstad and Democrat Jeff Ettinger, a former Hormel CEO, are simultaneously competing in primaries to determine the November matchup for the next two-year term representing the southern Minnesota district, as well as a special election to finish the last few months of Hagedorn’s term.
CONNECTICUT
It’s been roughly three decades since Connecticut had a Republican in the US Senate, but the party isn’t giving up.
In the GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthalthe party has endorsed former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides. She’s a social moderate who supports abortion rights and certain gun control measures and says she did not vote for Trump in 2020. Klarides contends her experience and positions can persuade voters to oppose Blumenthal, a two-term senator who in May registered a 45% job approval rating, his lowest in a Quinnipiac poll since taking office.
Klarides is being challenged by conservative attorney Peter Lumaj and Republican National Committee member Leora Levy, whom Trump endorsed last week. Both candidates oppose abortion rights and further gun restrictions, and they back Trump’s policies from him.
VERMONT
Leahy’s upcoming retirement has opened up two seats in Vermont’s tiny three-person congressional delegation — and the opportunity for the state to send a woman to represent it in Washington for the first time.
Democratic US Rep. Peter Welch, the state’s at-large congressman, quickly launched his Senate bid after Leahy revealed he was stepping down. Leahy, who is president pro tempore of the Senate, has been hospitalized a couple of times over the last two years, including after breaking his hip this summer.
Welch has been endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and is the odds-on favorite to win the seat in November. He faces two other Democrats in the primary: Isaac Evans-Frantz, an activist, and Dr. Niki Thran, an emergency physician.
On the Republican side, former US Attorney Christina Nolan, retired US Army officer Gerald Malloy and investment banker Myers Mermel are competing for the nomination.
The race to replace Welch has yielded Vermont’s first wide-open US House campaign since 2006.
Two women, including Lt. Gov. Molly Gray and state Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, are the top Democratic candidates in the race. Gray, elected in 2020 in her first political bid, is a lawyer and a former assistant state attorney general.
The winner of the Democratic primary will be the heavy favorite to win the general election in the liberal state. In 2018, Vermont became the last state without female representation in Congress when Mississippi Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith was appointed to the Senate.
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Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin; Doug Glass in Minneapolis; Susan Haigh in Hartford, Conn.; and Wilson Ring in Montpelier, Vermont, contributed to this report.
The Albanese government’s proposal to enshrine an Indigenous advisory body in the constitution should include words that formally recognize Indigenous people as Australia’s first inhabitants, advocate Noel Pearson says.
Key points:
Noel Pearson says the constitution should include words that recognize Indigenous people as the first peoples of Australia
He says a Voice to Parliament would be both symbolic and practical
He says the Voice proposal should appeal to “constitutional conservatives”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlined the core three sentences of a draft constitutional change in a speech to the Garma Festival of Aboriginal culture on the weekend.
Those three sentences would establish a Voice, with a role of advising the parliament and the executive, with its exact powers to be defined by the parliament in future legislation.
But right before outlining the proposed words, the prime minister said the change would be “in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the First Peoples of Australia”.
Mr Pearson said it was important that those introductory words themselves be written into the constitution, alongside the enshrinement of the Voice.
“I think that they’re important words to retainas a prelude to those … substantive sentences,” he said.
7.30 host Sarah Ferguson asked if that recognition needed to be “spelled out” in a clause of the constitution, or whether it could be sufficiently “implicit” in the creation of the Voice.
But Mr Pearson said again the words of recognition were an important inclusion.
“It would adorn the substantive words,” he said.
Voice proposal ‘constitutionally conservative’ and practical
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the Garma Festival on Saturday.(ABC News: Michael Franchi)
Mr Pearson said the Voice proposal should appeal to “constitutional conservatives” because it respected the primacy of the constitution and the parliament.
“This isn’t a proposition that has its origins in a leftist proposal. And in my view, this is the formula for success, because we need conservative constitutionals and conservatives and Liberals generally, to join this journey to complete the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
Mr Pearson said he was “extremely moved” by Mr Albanese’s speech at Garma.
“I didn’t know that he could connect with me in that way.” Mr Pearson said.
yin and yang
The Opposition’s shadow attorney-general, Julian Leeser, has left the door open to the Coalition supporting the proposal while calling on the government to release more detail about the body’s role.
Indigenous Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has called the Voice an exercise in “virtue signaling” over practical action.
But Mr Pearson said the Voice could do both: symbolically representing Indigenous Australians in the nation’s most important legal document, and practically improving the lives of Indigenous people.
“The practical dimension is the kind of the yin to the yang,” he said.
“And my view is that a Voice will achieve both. It will symbolize the recognition of the voices of the original Australians. But it will also result in better laws and policies.”
Mr Pearson said he had met recently with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who he said was “absolutely sincere” in his publicly stated concerns about welfare in Aboriginal communities.
He said he would soon meet with Mr Dutton again, and was optimistic about his potential support for the model.
“This is a modest proposition, modest but profound, capable of being consistent with liberal and conservative thinking,” he said.
