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Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the center of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions. It shares borders with Western Australia to the west, South Australia to the south, and Queensland to the east. To the north, the territory is bordered by the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Despite its large area — over 1,349,129 square kilometres (520,902 sq mi), making it the third largest Australian federal division — it is sparsely populated. With a population of 219,948[2] it is the least populous division in the country.

The history of the Northern Territory began over 40,000 years ago when Indigenous Australians settled the region. Makassan traders began trading with the indigenous people of the Northern Territory for trepang from at least the 18th century onwards, and very likely for 300 years prior to that, while the coast of the territory was first seen by Europeans in the 17th century.

The British were the first to attempt to settle the coastal regions in the 19th century; however no attempt was successful until the establishment of a settlement at Port Darwin in 1869. Today the economy is based on tourism, especially Kakadu National Park in the Top End and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (Ayers Rock) in central Australia, and mining. The capital city is Darwin. The population is not concentrated in coastal regions but rather along the Stuart Highway. The other major settlements are Katherine, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy in the territory's north-east. 

History

Indigenous Australians have lived in the present area of the Northern Territory for an estimated 40,000 years, and extensive seasonal trade links existed between them and the peoples of what is now Indonesia for at least five centuries. With the coming of the British, there were four early attempts to settle the harsh environment of the northern coast, of which three failed in starvation and despair. The Northern Territory was part of New South Wales from 1825 to 1863, except for a brief time from February to December 1846, when it was part of the short lived colony of North Australia. It was part of South Australia from 1863 to 1911. Under the administration of South Australia, the overland telegraph was constructed between 1870 and 1872.

A railway was also built between Palmerston and Pine Creek between 1883 and 1889. The economic pattern of cattle raising and mining was established so that by 1911 there were 513,000 cattle. Victoria River Downs was at one time the largest cattle station in the world. Gold was found at Grove Hill in 1872 and at Pine Creek, Brocks Creek, Burrundi, and copper was found at Daly River. On 1 January 1911, a decade after federation, the Northern Territory was separated from South Australia and transferred to Commonwealth control.

Alfred Deakin opined at this time "To me the question has been not so much commercial as national, first, second, third and last. Either we must accomplish the peopling of the northern territory or submit to its transfer to some other nation." For a brief time between 1927 and 1931 the Northern Territory was divided into North Australia and Central Australia at the 20th parallel of South latitude.

Soon after this time, parts of the Northern Territory were considered in the "Kimberley Scheme" as a possible site for the establishment of a Jewish Homeland, understandably considered the "Unpromised Land". During World War II, most of the Top End was placed under military government. This is the only time since Federation that an Australian state or territory has been under military control. After the war, control for the entire area was handed back to the Commonwealth. Indigenous Australians had struggled for rights to fair wages and land.

An important event in this struggle was the strike and walk off by the Gurindji people at Wave Hill Cattle Station in 1966. The Commonwealth Government of Gough Whitlam set up the Woodward Royal Commission in February 1973 set to inquire into how land rights might be achieved in the Northern Territory. Justice Woodward's first report in July 1973 recommended that a Central Land Council and a Northern Land Council be established in order to present to him the views of Aboriginal people. In response to the report of the Royal Commission a Land Rights Bill was drafted, but the Whitlam Government was dismissed before it was passed.

The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was eventually passed by the Fraser Government on 16 December 1976 and began operation on the following Australia Day (26 January 1977). In 1978 the Territory was granted responsible government, with a Legislative Assembly headed by a Chief Minister. During 1996 the Northern Territory was briefly one of the few places in the world with legal voluntary euthanasia, until the Federal Parliament overturned the legislation.[3] Before the overriding legislation was enacted, three people committed suicide through voluntary euthanasia, a practice orchestrated by Dr. Philip Nitschke.

Government

The Territory has a legislative assembly. Whilst this assembly exercises similar powers as the governments of the states of Australia, it does so by legislated delegation of powers from the commonwealth government, rather than by any constitutional right. For several years there has been agitation for full statehood. A referendum was held on the issue in 1998, which was resolved in the negative.

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 Wales or Victoria.)

Alongside what was cited as an arrogant approach adopted by then Chief Minister Shane Stone, it is believed that most Territorians, regardless of their general views on statehood, were reluctant to adopt the particular offer that was made.[4] The current head of government is Chief Minister Paul Henderson, who replaced Claire Martin on 26 November 2007. The Leader of the Opposition was Denis Burke, head of the Country Liberal Party, until the Territory elections of June 2005, where Burke lost his seat. The party then chose Terry Mills as the new Opposition Leader. Subsequently, Jodeen Carney took over for a time. In January 2008, Terry Mills again became the Opposition Leader. The Northern Territory is represented in the Commonwealth parliament by two Members in the House of Representatives, currently Warren Snowdon and Damian Hale for the Australian Labor Party (ALP), and two members in the Senate, currently Trish Crossin for the ALP and Nigel Scullion for the CLP. The Northern Territory Legislative Council was the partly elected governing body from 1947 until its replacement by the fully elected Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974.

The total enrolment for the 1947 election was 4,443, all of whom were white. The Northern Territory was split into five electorates: Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Batchelor and Stuart. The Chief Minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of a self-governing territory, while the head of government of a state is a Premier. The Chief Minister is appointed by the Administrator of the Northern Territory, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whatever party holds the majority of seats in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. The current Chief Minister of the Northern Territory is Paul Henderson. The Northern Territory received self-government on 1 July 1978 under its own Administrator of the Northern Territory appointed by the Governor-General of Australia.

The Commonwealth government, not the Government of the Northern Territory, advises the governor-general on appointment of the Administrator, but by convention, consults first with the Territory Government. The current administrator, Tom Pauling, was sworn in on 9 November 2007. The Northern Territory has 63 Local Government Areas; though only six councils are considered municipalities which include one shire, three towns and two cities. There are other types of local bodies.

Climate

The Northern Territory has two distinctive climate zones. The northern end, including Darwin, has a tropical climate with high humidity and two seasons, the wet (November to April) and dry season (May to October). During the dry season nearly every day is warm and sunny, and afternoon humidity averages around 30%. There is very little rainfall between May and September. In the coolest months of June and July, the daily minimum temperature may dip as low as 14°C, but very rarely lower, and frost has never been recorded. The wet season is associated with tropical cyclones and monsoon rains. The majority of rainfall occurs between December and March (the southern hemisphere summer), when thunderstorms are common and afternoon relative humidity averages over 70% during the wettest months. On average more than 1,570 mm of rain falls in the north. The central region is the desert centre of the country, which includes Alice Springs and Ayers Rock, and is semi-arid with little rain usually falling during the hottest months from October to March. Central Australia receives less than 250 mm of rain per year. The highest maximum temperature recorded in the territory was 48.3 °C (118.9 °F) at Finke on 2 January 1960. The lowest minimum temperature was -7.5 °C (18.5 °F) at Alice Springs on 12 July 1976.[12]

Economy

The Northern Territory's economy is largely driven by mining, which is concentrated on energy producing minerals, petroleum and energy and contributes around $2.5 billion to the gross state product and employs over 4,600 people. Mining accounts for 26 per cent of the gross state product in 2006 - 2007 compared to just 7 per cent nationally.[13] The economy has continued to grow during the 2005 - 2006 financial year from the past two fiancial years. Between 2003 and 2006 the gross state product had risen from $8,670 million to $11,476 million and increase of 32.4 per cent. During the three years to 2006 - 2007 the Northern Territory gross state product grew by an average annual rate of 5.5 per cent.[14] Gross state product per capita in the Northern Territory ($63,548) is also higher than the gross domestic product per capita for Australia ($45,021).

This can be attributed to the recent mining and resources boom. The Northern Territory's exports were up 19 per cent during 2005 - 2006. The largest contributer the the territories exports was: oil and gas (33.4 per cent), iron-ore (20. per cent), other manufactoring (5.9 per cent) and agriculture (4.9 per cent). Imports to the Northern Territory totalled $2,887.8 million which consisted of mainly machinery and equipment manufactoring (58.4 per cent) and petroleum, coal, chemical and associated product manufacturing (17.0 per cent). The principal mining operations are bauxite at Gove Peninsula where the production is estimated to increase 52.1 per cent to $254 million in 2007-08. Manganese at Groote Eylandt, production is estimated to increase 10.5 per cent to $1.1 billion which will be helped by the newly developed mines include Bootu Creek and Frances Creek.

Gold is estimated to increase 21.7 per cent to $482 million at the Union Reefs plant. Uranium at Ranger Uranium Mine.[16] Tourism is one of the major industries on the Northern Territory. Iconic destinations such as Uluru and Kakadu make the Northern Territory a popular destination for domestic and international travellers. Diverse landscapes, spectacular waterfalls, wide open spaces, aboriginal culture, wild and untamed wildlife, all create a unique opportunity for the visitor to immerse themselves in the natural wonder that the Northern Territory offers. Images of Uluru (Ayers Rock) are recognised around the world ensuring that Tourism in the Northern Territory will remain a vital component of its future. In 2005-06, 1.38 million people visited the Northern Territory. They stayed for 9.2 million nights and spent over $1.5 billion. The territory is well known for being promoted with the slogan "You'll Never Never Know if you Never Never Go". This was implemented as a result of the Kennedy Review in 1992.

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