Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier. When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government was officially known as majority leader. This title was used in the first parliament (1974–1977) and the first eighteen months of the second. When self-government was granted the Northern Territory in 1978, the title of the head of government became chief minister.

Chief Minister of the
Northern Territory
Coat of arms of the Northern Territory
Flag of the Northern Territory
Incumbent
Natasha Fyles
since 13 May 2022
Department of the Chief Minister
StyleThe Honourable
StatusHead of Government
AbbreviationCM
Member of
Reports toParliament
SeatDarwin, Northern Territory
AppointerAdministrator of the Northern Territory
by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly
Term lengthAt the Administrator's pleasure
contingent on the chief minister's ability to command confidence in the house of Parliament
Constituting instrumentNone (constitutional convention)
Formation19 October 1974 as Majority Leader
1 July 1978 as chief minister
First holderGoff Letts as Majority Leader
Paul Everingham as chief minister
DeputyDeputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
SalaryA$325,392[1]
Websitewww.chiefminister.nt.gov.au

The chief minister is formally appointed by the administrator, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whichever party holds the majority of seats in the unicameral Legislative Assembly. In times of constitutional crisis, the administrator can appoint someone else as chief minister, though this has never occurred.

Since 13 May 2022, following the resignation of Michael Gunner, the chief minister is Natasha Fyles of the Labor Party. She is the second female chief minister of the Northern Territory.

History

The Country Liberal Party won the first Northern Territory election on 19 October 1974 and elected Goff Letts majority leader. He headed an Executive that carried out most of the functions of a ministry at the state level. At the 1977 election Letts lost his seat and party leadership. He was succeeded on 13 August 1977 by Paul Everingham (CLP) as Majority Leader. When the Territory attained self-government on 1 July 1978, Everingham became chief minister with greatly expanded powers.

In 2001, Clare Martin became the first Labor and female chief minister of the Northern Territory. Until 2004 the conduct of elections and drawing of electoral boundaries was performed by the Northern Territory Electoral Office, a unit of the Department of the chief minister. In March 2004 the independent Northern Territory Electoral Commission was established.

In 2013, Mills was replaced as chief minister and CLP leader by Adam Giles at the 2013 CLP leadership ballot on 13 March to become the first indigenous Australian to lead a state or territory government in Australia.[2]

Following the 2016 election landslide outcome, Labor's Michael Gunner became chief minister; he was the first Chief Minister who was born in the Northern Territory. On 10 May 2022, Gunner announced his intention to resign.[3] On 13 May 2022, Natasha Fyles was elected to the position by the Labor caucus. [4]

List of chief ministers of the Northern Territory

From the foundation of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974 until the granting of self-government in 1978, the head of government was known as the majority leader:

No. Portrait Majority Leader Election Term of office Political party Executive
Took office Left office Term in office
1 Goff Letts 1974 19 October 1974 (1974-10-19) 12 August 1977 (1977-08-12) 2 years, 297 days Country Liberal Letts Executive
2 Paul Everingham 1977 13 August 1977 (1977-08-13) 30 June 1978 (1978-06-30) 321 days Country Liberal Everingham Executive

From 1978, the position was known as the chief minister:

No. Portrait Chief Minister Election Term of office Political party Ministry
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Paul Everingham 1980
1983		 1 July 1978 (1978-07-01) 15 October 1984 (1984-10-15) 6 years, 106 days Country Liberal Everingham Ministry
2 Ian Tuxworth — 16 October 1984 (1984-10-16) 13 May 1986 (1986-05-13) 1 year, 209 days Country Liberal Tuxworth Ministry
3 Stephen Hatton 1987 14 May 1986 (1986-05-14) 12 July 1988 (1988-07-12) 2 years, 59 days Country Liberal Hatton Ministry
4 Marshall Perron 1990
1994		 13 July 1988 (1988-07-13) 24 May 1995 (1995-05-24) 6 years, 315 days Country Liberal Perron Ministry
5 Shane Stone 1997 25 May 1995 (1995-05-25) 7 February 1999 (1999-02-07) 3 years, 258 days Country Liberal Stone Ministry
6 Denis Burke — 8 February 1999 (1999-02-08) 27 August 2001 (2001-08-27) 2 years, 200 days Country Liberal Burke Ministry
7 Clare Martin 2001
2005		 27 August 2001 (2001-08-27) 26 November 2007 (2007-11-26) 6 years, 91 days Labor Martin Ministry
8 Paul Henderson 2008 26 November 2007 (2007-11-26) 28 August 2012 (2012-08-28) 4 years, 276 days Labor Henderson Ministry
9 Terry Mills 2012 29 August 2012 (2012-08-29) 13 March 2013 (2013-03-13) 196 days Country Liberal Mills Ministry
10 Adam Giles — 14 March 2013 (2013-03-14) 30 August 2016 (2016-08-30) 3 years, 169 days Country Liberal Giles Ministry
11 Michael Gunner 2016
2020		 31 August 2016 (2016-08-31) 13 May 2022 (2022-05-13) 5 years, 255 days Labor Gunner Ministry
12 Natasha Fyles — 13 May 2022 (2022-05-13) Incumbent 1 year, 150 days Labor Fyles Ministry

See also

References
  1. Tyeson, Cam (1 June 2021). "Here's How Much Every State Premier Gets Paid If You Wanna Get Boomer-Tier Mad About Yr Taxes". Pedestrian. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  2. "Mills dumped as Giles takes top Territory job". ABC News. 13 March 2013.
  3. "Michael Gunner resigns as NT Chief Minister to spend more time with family, newborn". ABC News. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  4. "Northern Territory Chief Minister revealed after shock resignation of Michael Gunner". ABC News. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
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