Stephen Paul Hatton (born 28 January 1948) is an Australian politician, who was

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 wa ...

of Australia from 1986 to 1988. From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of

Nightcliff Nightcliff is a northern suburb of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. History Although the origin of the name Nightcliff has always been surrounded by conjecture and controversy, the naming can be tracked back to 8 September ...

. He first became a minister in December 1984 in the

Ian Tuxworth Ian Lindsay Tuxworth (18 June 1942 – 21 January 2020) was an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 17 October 1984 until his resignation on 10 May 1986. Early life Tuxworth was born on 18 Ju ...

government. He played an important role in the

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

for statehood for the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

in 1998. He had served for many years on a bipartisan committee of 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 fo ...

, which had recommended a constitution and an elected Constitutional Assembly to give it further consideration. The then Chief Minister,

Shane Stone Shane Leslie Stone (born 25 September 1950) is an Australian political figure. He is currently the Chair of the Council for the Order of Australia. He was also the Coordinator-General of the National Recovery and Resilience Agency and its pre ...

put forward a different constitution to a non-elected Constitutional Assembly. Steve Hatton was prominent in opposing this kind of statehood. The referendum failed, and he was reported as saying "One of the campaign slogans at the time was: 'we want statehood, not Stonehood'".ABC Lateline
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References

1948 births Living people Chief Ministers of the Northern Territory Attorneys-General of the Northern Territory Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly University of New South Wales alumni Recipients of the Centenary Medal 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-politician-stub