A
referendum was held in the
Northern TerritoryThe Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
on Saturday, October 3 1998, to decide whether the Territory should become a State of the
Commonwealth of AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. The Country Liberal Party government, and its federal counterpart, supported the Yes case. The opposition
Australian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party.Known as the ALP for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the 2007 federal election...
supported the No case.
The referendum was narrowly defeated, 51.9% to 48.1%. The "Yes" case received 44,702 votes, the "No" case 48,241.
 |
| Northern Territory referendum, 1998 |
| Statehood for NT |
Vote % |
| No |
51.9 |
| Yes |
48.1 |
A
referendum was held in the
Northern TerritoryThe Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
on Saturday, October 3 1998, to decide whether the Territory should become a State of the
Commonwealth of AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
. The Country Liberal Party government, and its federal counterpart, supported the Yes case. The opposition
Australian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party.Known as the ALP for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the 2007 federal election...
supported the No case.
The referendum was narrowly defeated, 51.9% to 48.1%. The "Yes" case received 44,702 votes, the "No" case 48,241. There were 1068 informal ballots.
The result was widely interpreted as a personal rebuke to then Chief Minister
Shane StoneShane Leslie Stone AC, QC is an Australian political figure. From 26 May 1995 to 8 February 1999 he was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, representing the Country Liberal Party.Stone was born in Wodonga, Victoria...
. Polls suggest that most Territorians continue to support statehood for the territory in principle.
Background
The territory has a
legislative assemblyThe Northern Territory Legislative Assembly is the unicameral parliament of the Northern Territory in Australia. It sits in Parliament House, located on State Square, close to the centre of the city of Darwin.-History:...
. Whilst this assembly exercises roughly the same powers as the governments of the states of Australia, it does so by delegation of powers from the commonwealth government, rather than by any constitutional right.
For several years there has been agitation for full statehood. A
referendumA referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal...
was held on the issue in 1998, which failed. This was a shock to both the Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments, for opinion polls showed most Territorians supported statehood. However, under the Australian Constitution, the Federal government may set the terms of entry to full statehood. The Northern Territory was offered three Senators, rather than the twelve guaranteed to original states. (Because of the difference in populations, equal numbers of Senate seats would mean a Territorian's vote for a Senator would have been worth more than 30 votes in
New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
or
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
.) Alongside what was cited as an arrogant approach adopted by then Chief Minister
Shane StoneShane Leslie Stone AC, QC is an Australian political figure. From 26 May 1995 to 8 February 1999 he was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, representing the Country Liberal Party.Stone was born in Wodonga, Victoria...
, it is believed that most Territorians were reluctant to adopt the offer which was made.
A bipartisan NT Legislative Assemby Committee, chaired by former Chief Minister
Stephen HattonStephen Paul Hatton is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988...
, had proposed a draft Constitution and that it should be debated at an elected Constitutional Convention. Shane Stone ignored the latter recommendation, nominating a Convention membership of 53 members at short notice, and then presented to the Convention a draft Constitution that was different from the Committee's recommendation. Steve Hatton later said "one of the campaign slogans at the time was, we want statehood, not Stonehood".