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The Administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the
Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
. They perform functions similar to those of a state governor. Strictly speaking, the appointment of an Administrator is made by the Governor-General-in-Council, that is, the Governor-General acting on the ''advice'' of the
Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
, rather than the advice of the Government of the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory received self-government on 1 July 1978, in accordance with the provisions of the '' Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 ( Cth)''. Since then, the practice has arisen that in making an appointment the Governor-General-in-Council will act on the ''recommendation'' of the Northern Territory Government. Unlike an Australian State Governor, the Administrator is not the ''direct'' representative of the
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...
in the Territory but is instead appointed by the King's representative in the Commonwealth, the Governor-General, to administer the Territory in accordance with the Act. In practice, however, the Administrator performs a similar constitutional role to that of a state governor and can be considered the King's ''indirect'' representative in the Territory. This is light of the fact that territories are not sovereign in the same way as states, there being no 'Crown in right of the Northern Territory'. The Administrator formally appoints the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory and the members of the Cabinet after every election. In all but a few cases, they are required by convention to act on the Cabinet's advice. The Administrator gives
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...
to all bills passed by the
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method f ...
. Although the Governor-General (in practice, the Commonwealth Government) has the power to veto any territorial bill, in practice this right is almost never exercised. The office of the ''Deputy of the Administrator'' was created in 1997. In 2014, the Governor-General granted current, future and living former Administrators the title of 'The Honourable' for life, following the lead of Governors-General and Governors of New South Wales in granting the title. The present Administrator is Vicki O'Halloran, AO.


Crest of Administrator

The crest of Administrator of the Northern Territory which is similar to the one used by the Governor-General of Australia except that the flower below the
St Edward's Crown St Edward's Crown is the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. Named after Saint Edward the Confessor, versions of it have traditionally been used to crown English and British monarchs at their coronations since the 13th cen ...
is the Sturt Desert Rose which is the floral emblem of the Northern Territory.


South Australia (1863 to 1912)

On 6 July 1863, land now known as the Northern Territory was annexed to the
Colony of South Australia In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
. Legislation regulating the sale of land in the Northern Territory which was given assent on 12 November 1863 included provision for both the appointment of a Government Resident and a description of the powers of this office.


Commonwealth of Australia (1912 to present)

Administrators and Government Residents of the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
after transfer of control to the Commonwealth Government:


Administrator (1912 to 1919)


Director (1919 to 1921)


Administrator (1921 to 1927)


Government Resident (1927 to 1931)

From 1926 to 1931, the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
was divided into the territories of
Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...
and
North Australia North Australia can refer to a short-lived former British colony, a former federal territory of the Commonwealth of Australia, or a proposed state which would replace the current Northern Territory. Colony (1846–1847) A colony of North Austr ...
, with the border at the
20th parallel south The 20th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 20 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America. Around the world Starting at ...
. Each territory was administered by a Government Resident located respectively in
Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' A ...
(then known as Stuart) and in Darwin. Both territories were reincorporated as the Northern Territory in 1931.


Administrator (1931 to present)


Deputy of the Administrator (1997 to present)

The office of the ''Deputy of the Administrator'' was established in 1997.


See also

*
Government House, Darwin Government House is the office and official residence of the Administrator of the Northern Territory in Darwin, Australia. Built between 1870 and 1871, with later renovations between 1878 and 1879, the building is set on 13,000 square metres of ...
*
Governors of the Australian states The governors of the Australian states are the representatives of Australia's monarch in each of Australia's six states. The governors are the nominal chief executives of the states, performing the same constitutional and ceremonial function ...
* Darwin Rebellion


References


External links


Office of the Administrator – official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Administrator Of The NorThern Territory
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
Parliament of the Northern Territory