Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

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
Style	The Honourable
Status	Head of Government
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Parliament National Cabinet Cabinet Executive Council
Reports to	Parliament
Seat	Darwin, Northern Territory
Appointer	Administrator of the Northern Territory by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly
Term length	At the Administrator's pleasure contingent on the chief minister's ability to command confidence in the house of Parliament
Constituting instrument	None (constitutional convention)
Formation	19 October 1974 as Majority Leader 1 July 1978 as chief minister
First holder	Goff Letts as Majority Leader Paul Everingham as chief minister
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
Salary	A$325,392
Website	www.chiefminister.nt.gov.au

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.

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.

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. On 13 May 2022, Natasha Fyles was elected to the position by the Labor caucus.

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	2 years, 205 days	Labor	Fyles Ministry

See also

• List of chief ministers of the Northern Territory by time in office
• Territory rig

External links

• Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory 1974–2012 – Office Holders