The administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the governor-general of Australia to represent the Crown in right of the Northern Territory. They perform functions similar to those of a state governor.
Strictly speaking, the appointment of an administrator is made by the governor-general acting on the advice of the Australian government, rather than the advice of the government of the Northern Territory. However, ministers have described the process as being based on "advice from the Australian and Northern Territory governments". Unlike an Australian state governor, the administrator is not the direct representative of the King in the Territory but is instead appointed by the King's federal representative in Australia, 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.
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 to all bills passed by the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. 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 David Connolly.
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 Crown is the Sturt Desert Rose, 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. 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.
No. Government Resident From To 1 Boyle Travers Finniss 3 March 1864 4 November 1865 (acting) James Stokes Millner January 1870 April 1870 2 William Bloomfield Douglas 27 April 1870 June 1873 (acting) James Stokes Millner June 1873 October 1873 3 George Byng Scott 6 October 1873 30 June 1876 4 Edward William Price 1 July 1876 6 March 1883 (acting) Gilbert Rotherdale McMinn March 1883 March 1884 5 John Parsons 19 March 1884 14 February 1890 6 John Knight 16 July 1890 10 January 1892 7 Charles James Dashwood 24 February 1892 31 January 1905 8 Charles Edward Herbert 1 February 1905 8 February 1910 9 Samuel Mitchell 1 April 1910 25 March 1912
Commonwealth of Australia (1912 to present)
Administrators and Government Residents of the Northern Territory after transfer of control to the Commonwealth Government:
Administrators and Directors (1912 to 1927)
No. Name Title From To 1 John Gilruth Administrator 25 March 1912 20 February 1919 (de facto) 30 November 1919 (de jure) 2 Henry Ernest Carey Director 1 August 1919 19 October 1919 (de facto) 22 September 1920 (de jure) 3 Staniforth Smith Acting Administrator 1 December 1919 17 January 1921 4 Frederic Urquhart Administrator 17 January 1921 1 March 1927
Government Residents (1927 to 1931)
From 1926 to 1931, the Northern Territory was divided into the territories of Central Australia and North Australia, with the border at the 20th parallel south. Each territory was administered by a Government Resident located respectively in Alice Springs (then known as Stuart) and in Darwin. Both territories were reincorporated as the Northern Territory in 1931.
No. Government Resident (North Australia) From To 1 Robert Weddell 1 March 1927 12 June 1931
No. Government Resident (Central Australia) From To 1 John Cawood 1 March 1927 11 December 1929 2 Victor Carrington 11 December 1929 12 June 1931
Administrators (1931 to present)
No. Administrator From To 1 Robert Weddell 12 June 1931 29 March 1937 2 Aubrey Abbott 29 March 1937 1 July 1946 3 Arthur Driver 1 July 1946 1 July 1951 4 Frank Wise 1 July 1951 1 July 1956 5 James Archer 1 July 1956 1 April 1961 6 Roger Nott 1 April 1961 1 October 1964 7 Roger Dean 1 October 1964 4 March 1970 8 Frederick Chaney 4 March 1970 10 December 1973 9 Jock Nelson 10 December 1973 12 November 1975 10 John England 1 June 1978 1 January 1981 11 Commodore Eric Johnston 1 January 1981 1 July 1989 12 James Muirhead 1 July 1989 1 March 1993 13 Austin Asche 1 March 1993 17 February 1997 14 Neil Conn 17 February 1997 28 November 2000 15 John Anictomatis 28 November 2000 30 October 2003 16 Ted Egan 31 October 2003 31 October 2007 17 Tom Pauling 31 October 2007 31 October 201118 Sally Thomas 31 October 2011 10 November 201419 John Hardy 10 November 2014 30 October 201720 Vicki O'Halloran 31 October 2017 30 January 202321 Hugh Heggie 2 February 2023 30 January 202622 David Connolly 27 February 2026 present
Deputy of the Administrator (1997 to present)
The office of the Deputy of the Administrator was established in 1997.
No. Deputy of the Administrator From To 1 Minna Sitzler 17 February 1997 30 November 2001 2 Pat Miller 20 September 20023Fran Kilgariff15 February 2024present
See also
Government House, Darwin Governors of the Australian states Darwin Rebellion Officer administering the government
Notes
References
External links Office of the Administrator – official site