Why Isn’t the Northern Territory a State? | BTN High
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- čas přidán 7. 02. 2023
- The Northern Territory is not a state, meaning it doesn’t have the same powers and rights as the rest of the country. But why? And how did this happen? To find out, we dive deep into the history of self-government, the passing of a controversial law, and a failed referendum.
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I would also mention that from 1927 - 1931 there was the "Central Australian Territory" which was a brief experiment where Alice Springs (then Stuart) was the Capital of its own territory. It didn't last long though due to low population density
Basically, "Centralia" was the NT south of 20.
It's been over 30 years since I first watched BTN and it's still just as good. (Especially since I don't have any homework related to it 🙄)
educational and quality content 👍🏼
Thank you. I never understood why this was so. Your presentation was wonderfully clear.
Sources for the music used in this? I love it. Quality reporting too
Another thing is that each of the 6 original founding states are guaranteed equal Senators each, regardless of population. Currently they have 12 Senators each. But the NT only has 2, and ACT only has 2. Even if the NT became a state, it still wouldn't be guaranteed equal Senators, as it wouldn't be an "original" state.
This is the actual reason the referendum lost.
That's something that always needs to be mentioned to people who have reservations about NT statehood.
Everyone forgets Jervis bay territory.
For comparison, other federations have mostly elevated their (internal) terrtories to full statehood (not including federal capitals or overseas possessions). The last two territories in the contiguous United States to achieve statehood were Arizona and New Mexico, both in 1912. Mexico's last two territories to become states were Baja California Sur and Quintana Roo, both in 1974, while Brazil's last two were Amapá and Roraima, both in 1990.
And then there's Australia and Canada which still to this day have not given their remaining (internal, non-capital) territories equal status within their federal structures. Seems unfair to me that these areas with substantial indigenous populations should have lesser and fewer powers.
In my opinion, while you remain a territory of the federal government, it makes sense that the government should hold supremacy of rule over the territories it owns. If people feel that this is unfair, then by all means they should become a full state, and I support their right to do so. However while they remain a territory I don’t think it is unfair
They could have had it if they had voted yes in the referendum.
@@hjf3022 this is a good point. I like the idea of the Northern Territory becoming a state, but if the people of the Northern Territory say otherwise, who are we to say no?
@@Banana_Split_Cream_Buns I think that one may have been more of a protest against Chief minister
The U.S. Congress can overrule laws made in the federal District of Columbia.
Thanks. Well presented and informative.
love the video!
Very interesting!
good content love it
So is the Jervis Bay Territory and the 7 external territories. The also don't have the same senate representation.
Jervis Bay Territory is represented by the ACT. Christmas Island & Coco (Keelings) Island is represented by the NT. Other external territories don't have permanent populations to justify Senate representation.
@@edwinwan02 Represented? Not sure what you mean by that. I was trying to highlight the commentary was lacking. I thought the Territories had two senators. One concentrated on ACT / Jervis Bay and the other the NT and external territories but they both represent territories. Jervis bay is separate to the ACT but is currently administered by the ACT and that is different to represented. We understood we have 3 internal and 7 external territories, one having the highest mountain is Australia. The constitution doesn't specify the territories must have senate representation. The we given the state balance corrected by giving them more senators. Acts involve more than just people and include fishing rights etc. and those senators should represent the interests of all Australian Territories and vote appropriately.
@@GregMcCall ACT & NT have two senators EACH!
I'm amazed none of this is included in my citizenship test material. thanks for the great quality video.
Interesting
Its too sweaty for state status
When I was a kid, I could never understand the big deal about Youth in Asia.
Now I know.
Please don't judge me. I've lived in Australia all my life but I was today years old (over half century) before I just learnt that NT is not a state and why!
The Westminster model argument no longer works given that the Westminster/UK government has just vetoed the Scottish Govnt in the same way and the Supreme Court has confirmed the right to do so.
Though not sure whether that applies to specifically modifying their law so that they couldn’t ever pass a euthanasia law (rather than just blocking a law)
Maybe title of this video should be Why voluntary Euthanasia is not Legal in NT..
I heard from an older family member that NT used to be apart of South Australia.
As a sorry Australian, i want to take it back.
I asked dad about it he said it becer happened. Now i know it is, i wouldnt mind pushing for it, would lock down on corruption increase population etc though i doubt the other states would be keen with that 😅
Compare ACT and NT with Washington DC and Puerto Rico in the US. At least ACT and NT have voting representation in both the House and Senate of Parliament.
The Northern Territory should be given a chance to statehood again, but the people of the NT have to push for it.
Also, North Queensland (with its southern border being between Mackay and Rockhampton) should also be given the opportunity to being a self-governing Territory. And once established, then given the opportunity for statehood.
The Kimberley region should be given the opportunity to join the NT, given it is far closer to Darwin than Perth and that it shares a lot of attributes of the Top End.
Central Australia (Alice Springs and southward) should be given the opportunity to decide whether to rejoin South Australia if they feel they might be better governed from Adelaide than Darwin.
The people in the NSW northern rivers should be given the opportunity to decide whether they want to become a part of Queensland, given they are many times closer to Brisbane than Sydney, or even Newcastle, and are more part of the Southeast Queensland economy than the Greater Sydney-Hunter economy.
Similarly, the NSW Murray region (eg Albury, Deniliquin) should be given the opportunity to decide whether to join Victoria, given it is far closer to Melbourne than Sydney and its economic zone is more geared towards Victoria's than NSW's, even in parts having Victorian freight rail tracks.
And Norfolk Island should be given a chance to decide whether to join New Zealand, consider its far closer to Auckland than either Sydney, Brisbane or Canberra. Ideally, Pitcairn Island (UK territory) should also be given the opportunity to join New Zealand too (like Niue and Tokelau is) and that way the Norfolk and Pitcairn Islanders, who share Bounty-mutineer and Tahitian-Polynesian heritage, can be part of the one country that can serve their needs better than either Australia or the UK.
And finally, constitutional amendments ought to be made to allow the Commonwealth to negotiate with Western Australia to allow greater autonomy for Western Australia where the Parliaments in both Canberra and Perth both agree. Seriously, Greater Perth and southwest Western Australia (90% of WA's population) is really far away from the rest of the country. Auckland is closer to Canberra than Perth is.
Interesting ideas. The first thing you should know is that none of it will happen. All the state areas you mentioned are great wealth-producing areas or strategically very important. Nobody would say 'it's cool, we don't mind being poorer or less secure, just so long as those poor politicians don't have to fly so far to get to parliament'.
Also, you have to consider on what basis you thought Western Australia is too far to be effectively governed by the Federal government. It's actually the wealthiest state of all (gdp per capita), so seems things are going quite well and distance hasn't held them back.
Canada and the USA are two very successful nations larger than Australia, and they wouldn't necessarily grant autonomy to regions just based on distance. I'm not sure there's a correlation between the distance to parliament and freedom or wealth.
It's bad enough that Tasmania has 12 Senators. NT has half the population of Tasmania.
I think it should be declared a state outright on the part of the feds.
But you gotta make sure that's what the people living there want.
But I hope they vote yes.
And get at least 5 Senators (all the other states currently have 12 Senators each, regardless of population)
@@pronumeral1446 I don't think you entirely understand what I was saying. It doesn't really matter what the people in the territory think. Its high time this limbo state came to an end. The feds should frankly get this over with and declare them a state.
stop uploading btn high to the indepth channel.
They should make Cairns and Broome apart of the NT, shorten the border for Queensland and Western Australia and so create a new state in the middle of Australia which I shall call Hotty Hot Bloody Hot State.
It seems exceedingly unlikely that Western Australia or Queensland or indeed any state within a federation would willingly give up part of their land. However, in Brazil and Mexico, existing states have had parts carved out of them to become separate territories and later states in their own right, but I wonder if those "rump states" were coerced into agreeing to this by a powerful and undemocratic federal government at the time.
I have heard people in western Canada argue that the northern 1/4 of British Columbia should be transferred to the Yukon Territory which should then become a new province. But the political implications of a provincial government to just give away part of its province and its constituents make this seem near-impossible.
@Jamie Walkley yeah exactly you put into words what I was thinking
@@kenster8270 nothing is impossible
Australia has states?!