Editing Northern Territory (section)

==History==
[[File:Thomas Baines, Thomas Baines with Aborigines near the mouth of the Victoria River, N.T, 1857.jpg|thumb|left|[[Thomas Baines]] with Aboriginal Australians near the mouth of the [[Victoria River (Northern Territory)|Victoria River]].]]
{{main|History of the Northern Territory}}

===Pre-colonial===
{{further|Prehistory of Australia|History of Indigenous Australians|Makassan contact with Australia}}
Humans have lived in the present area of the Northern Territory since at least 48,400 to 68,700 years ago.<ref name="Clarkson Jacobs Marwick Fullagar 2017 pp. 306–310">{{cite journal | last1=Clarkson | first1=Chris | last2=Jacobs | first2=Zenobia | last3=Marwick | first3=Ben | last4=Fullagar | first4=Richard | last5=Wallis | first5=Lynley | last6=Smith | first6=Mike | last7=Roberts | first7=Richard G. | last8=Hayes | first8=Elspeth | last9=Lowe | first9=Kelsey | last10=Carah | first10=Xavier | last11=Florin | first11=S. Anna | last12=McNeil | first12=Jessica | last13=Cox | first13=Delyth | last14=Arnold | first14=Lee J. | last15=Hua | first15=Quan | last16=Huntley | first16=Jillian | last17=Brand | first17=Helen E. A. | last18=Manne | first18=Tiina | last19=Fairbairn | first19=Andrew | last20=Shulmeister | first20=James | last21=Lyle | first21=Lindsey | last22=Salinas | first22=Makiah | last23=Page | first23=Mara | last24=Connell | first24=Kate | last25=Park | first25=Gayoung | last26=Norman | first26=Kasih | last27=Murphy | first27=Tessa | last28=Pardoe | first28=Colin | title=Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Nature | volume=547 | issue=7663 | year=2017 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/nature22968 | pmid=28726833 | pages=306–310 | bibcode=2017Natur.547..306C | url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/107043/2/hdl_107043.pdf | hdl=2440/107043 | s2cid=205257212 | hdl-access=free | access-date=24 September 2019 | archive-date=25 October 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025030937/https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/107043/2/hdl_107043.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref>

From the 17th or 18th century AD onwards, traders from [[Sulawesi]] established extensive seasonal trade links with the [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous]] peoples of [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley region]], the modern-day Northern Territory, and [[Arnhem Land]].<ref name="Macknight-2011">{{cite journal | title = The view from Marege': Australian knowledge of Makassar and the impact of the trepangindustry across two centuries
 | last = Macknight | first = Charles Campbell
 | journal = [[Aboriginal History]]
 | year = 2011 | volume = 35 | pages = 121–143
 | jstor = 24046930
| doi = 10.22459/AH.35.2011.06
| doi-access = free}}</ref> They collected ''trepang'' ([[sea cucumber]]) for Chinese markets and introduced several goods and technologies to the Indigenous peoples.<ref name="Macknight-2011"/> There is significant evidence of contact with [[Makassar people|Makassan]] fishers in examples of [[Indigenous Australian rock art]] and [[bark painting]] of northern Australia, with the Makassan ''[[perahu]]'' a prominent feature.{{sfn|Taçon|May|Fallon|Travers|2010}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Woodford |first=J. |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=20 September 2008 |title=The Rock Art That Redraws Our History |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/the-rock-art-that-redraws-our-history/2008/09/19/1221331206960.html |access-date=6 April 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920040854/http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/the-rock-art-that-redraws-our-history/2008/09/19/1221331206960.html |archive-date=20 September 2008}}</ref>
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===Colonial administration===
With the coming of the British, there were four early attempts to settle the harsh environment of the northern coast, of which three failed in starvation and despair. The land now occupied by the Northern Territory was part of colonial [[New South Wales]] from 1825 to 1863, except for a brief time from February to December 1846, when it was part of the short-lived colony of [[North Australia]]. The Northern Territory was part of South Australia from 1863 to 1911, and under its administration the [[Australian Overland Telegraph Line|Overland Telegraph Line]] was constructed between 1870 and 1872.<ref>{{cite web |author=National Museum of Australia |author-link=National Museum of Australia |date=2022-09-28 |title=National Museum of Australia – Overland telegraph |publisher=[[National Museum of Australia]] |url=https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/overland-telegraph |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330000552/https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/overland-telegraph |archive-date=30 March 2020 |access-date=2025-04-28 }}</ref>

From its establishment in 1869, the [[Port of Darwin]] was the major supply point for the Territory for many decades.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway|A railway]] was built between [[Palmerston, Northern Territory|Palmerston]] and [[Pine Creek, Northern Territory|Pine Creek]] between 1883 and 1889 as part of the [[North Australia Railway]]. The economic pattern of cattle raising and mining was established so that by 1911 there were 513,000 cattle. [[Victoria River Downs Station]], {{Convert|686|km|mi}} west of Darwin,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Distance from Darwin to Victoria River Downs (DRW – VCD) |url=https://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/drw-to-vcd/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=Air Miles Calculator |language=en}}</ref> was at one time the largest [[cattle station]] in the world. 

Gold was found at Grove Hill in 1872 and at [[Pine Creek, Northern Territory|Pine Creek]] (in 1871), Brocks Creek, Burundi, and copper was found at [[Daly River, Northern Territory|Daly River]].<ref>{{Cite report|last=Otterman|first=D.|date=2004|title=Daly River Project, Annual report for EL 22495, EL 22496, EL 22498 and EL 23595, for the period 6 September 2003 to 5 September 2004|url=https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/83631|access-date=21 July 2021|archive-date=21 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721183556/https://geoscience.nt.gov.au/gemis/ntgsjspui/handle/1/83631|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Federal territory===
On 1 January 1911, a decade after [[Federation of Australia|Federation]], the Northern Territory was separated from South Australia, alongside the [[Australian Capital Territory]] from NSW, and transferred to federal control. [[Alfred Deakin]] opined at this time ''"[t]o me the question has been not so much commercial as national, first, second, third and last. Either we must accomplish the peopling of the northern territory or submit to its transfer to some other nation."''<ref>{{cite book|last=Walker|first=David|title=Anxious Nation: Australia and the Rise of Asia, 1850–1939|year=1999|publisher=[[University of Queensland Press]]|isbn=978-0702231315|page=122|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spS6AAAAIAAJ}}</ref>
[[File:Letters Patent Northern Territory.jpg|right|thumb|Letters Patent annexing the Northern Territory to South Australia, 1863]]
In late 1912 there was growing sentiment that the name "Northern Territory" was unsatisfactory.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5351157|title=The Territory: Federal Policy Criticised|newspaper=The Advertiser|location=Adelaide|date=14 November 1912}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15375411|title=House of Representatives|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=14 November 1912}}</ref> The names "Kingsland" (after King [[George V]] and to correspond with [[Queensland]]), "Centralia" and "Territoria" were proposed with Kingsland becoming the preferred choice in 1913. However, the name change never went ahead.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59253861|title=Territoria or Kingsland!|newspaper=[[The Register (Adelaide)|The Register]]|date=16 April 1914}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5396815|title=Kingsland: New name for the Northern Territory|newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)|The Advertiser]]|date=22 April 1913|access-date=1 May 2017|archive-date=10 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210053040/http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5396815|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Division into North Australia and Central Australia====
{{See also|List of massacres of Indigenous Australians}}
For a brief time between 1927 and 1931 the Northern Territory was divided into [[North Australia (territory)|North Australia]] and [[Central Australia (territory)|Central Australia]] at the [[20th parallel south]]. Soon after this time, parts of the Northern Territory were considered in the [[Kimberley Plan]] as a possible site for the establishment of a [[Homeland for the Jewish people|Jewish Homeland]], understandably considered the "[[promised Land|Unpromised Land]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18097828 |title=Wasted Years |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |issue=34,577 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=16 October 1948 |access-date=20 July 2019 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43802260 |title=Immigration Scheme That Failed |newspaper=[[The Advertiser (Adelaide)]] |volume=91 |issue=28178 |location=South Australia |date=29 January 1949 |access-date=20 July 2019 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

During the early 20th century, the southern part of the Territory was considered the "last frontier" of Australian settlement, where 'sympathetic whites' hoped that Aboriginal traditions would continue to be practised.<ref name="O'Brien">{{cite journal |date=2015 |title=Hunger and the humanitarian frontier |last=O'Brien |first=Anne |url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p332783/html/article05.xhtml?referer=1790&page=11 |journal=Aboriginal History |publisher=Aboriginal History Inc. ANU Press |volume=39 |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604131320/https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p332783/html/article05.xhtml?referer=1790&page=11 |url-status=live }}</ref> Conflicts arose due to the resource scarcity and the fragility of the cattle industry and the area was rife with Indigenous 'bush bandits' who speared cattle for food for want of employment by ranchers. This was exacerbated by a drought between 1925 and 1929 that led to the deaths of 85 per cent of the children at the [[Hermannsburg, Northern Territory|Hermannsburg Mission]] in Central Australia. In the meantime, white attitudes towards Aboriginal people were paternalistic, torn between the desire to help them in times of hunger and the fear of "pauperizing" them and reducing their incentives to work.<ref name="O'Brien"/> 

In the 1928 [[Coniston massacre]], punitive expeditions were carried out by white colonists led by [[Northern Territory Police]] constable [[William George Murray]] in response to the murder of a [[dingo]] hunter, resulting in the deaths of dozens to hundreds of people of the [[Warlpiri people|Warlpiri]], [[Anmatyerre]], and [[Kaytetye people|Kaytetye]] groups.<ref name="Bradley">{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Michael |title=Coniston |date=2019 |publisher=UWA Press |location=Perth|isbn=9781760801045}}</ref> This was one of many massacres of Aboriginal people in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Some Known Frontier Conflicts in the Northern Territory |url=https://australianfrontierconflicts.com.au/timelines/some-known-frontier-conflicts-in-the-northern-territory/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=Australian Frontier Conflicts |language=en-AU |archive-date=17 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917230217/https://australianfrontierconflicts.com.au/timelines/some-known-frontier-conflicts-in-the-northern-territory/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Post-World War II====
During World War II, most of the Top End was placed under military government. This is the only time since Federation that part of an Australian state or territory has been under military control. After the war, control for the entire area was handed back to the Commonwealth. The [[Bombing of Darwin]] occurred on 19 February 1942. It was the largest single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. Evidence of Darwin's World War II history is found at a variety of preserved sites in and around the city, including ammunition bunkers, airstrips, oil tunnels and museums. The port was damaged in the 1942 Japanese air raids. It was subsequently restored.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Thiem |first1=David |title=Semaphore: 75 Years After the Bombing of Darwin a Story of Reconciliation Hope and Peace |url=https://seapower.navy.gov.au/media-room/publications/semaphore-04-17 |website=Semaphore |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |access-date=14 June 2024 |archive-date=14 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240614125410/https://seapower.navy.gov.au/media-room/publications/semaphore-04-17 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the late 1960s improved roads in adjoining States linking with the territory, port delays and rapid economic development led to uncertainty in port and regional infrastructure development. As a result of the Commission of Enquiry established by the Administrator,<ref>[http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Records/a590549]{{Dead link|date=July 2012}}</ref> port working arrangements were changed, berth investment deferred and a port masterplan prepared.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2794315|title=Darwin and Northern Territory freight transport study|editor-last=Australia|date=30 April 1977|publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service|isbn=9780642033512|access-date=30 April 2019|via=National Library of Australia (new catalog)|archive-date=30 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430152242/https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2794315|url-status=live}}</ref> Extension of rail transport was then not considered because of low freight volumes.

[[Indigenous Australians]] had struggled for rights to fair wages and land. An important event in this struggle was the [[Gurindji strike|strike and walk off]] by the [[Gurindji people]] at [[Kalkaringi|Wave Hill Cattle Station]] in 1966. The [[Northern Territory Council for Aboriginal Rights]] (NTCAR) supported the strikers and provided publicity.<ref name=ntcar>{{cite web | title=Northern Territory Council for Aboriginal Rights | publisher=National Museum of Australia | date=26 November 2018 | url=https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/indigenous-rights/organisations/expansion-folder/northern-territory-council-aboriginal-rights#! | access-date=30 November 2020 | archive-date=14 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514125342/https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/indigenous-rights/organisations/expansion-folder/northern-territory-council-aboriginal-rights#! | url-status=dead }}</ref> The Federal government of [[Gough Whitlam#Prime Minister|Gough Whitlam]] set up [[Aboriginal Land Rights Commission|the Woodward Royal Commission]] in February 1973, to enquire into how land rights might be achieved in the Northern Territory. [[Philip Woodward (judge)|Justice Woodward]]'s first report in July 1973 recommended that a [[Central Land Council]] and a [[Northern Land Council]] be established to present to him the views of Aboriginal people. A Land Rights Bill was drafted, and the ''[[Aboriginal Land Rights Act|Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976]]'' was passed by the [[Malcolm Fraser|Fraser]] government on 16 December 1976 and began operation on 26 January 1977).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00111/Html/Text |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=legislation.gov.au|archive-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117074252/https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00111/Html/Text |url-status=live }}</ref> The Northern Territory Council for Aboriginal Rights was disestablished in 1976.<ref name="ntcar" />

In 1974, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, Darwin was devastated by tropical [[Cyclone Tracy]]. Cyclone Tracy killed 71 people, caused A$837 million in damage (approximately A$6.85 billion {{As of|2018|lc=on}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualDecimal.html|title=Inflation Calculator|access-date=19 July 2019|author=Reserve Bank of Australia|date=30 October 2015|archive-date=25 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625131710/https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualDecimal.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and destroyed more than 70 per cent of Darwin's buildings, including 80 per cent of houses. Tracy left more than 41,000 out of the 47,000 inhabitants of the city homeless. The city was rebuilt with much-improved construction codes and is a modern, landscaped metropolis today.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In 1978 the Territory was granted [[Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978|Self Government]] with a Legislative Assembly headed by a [[Chief Minister of the Northern Territory|Chief Minister]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-17 |title=Northern Territory - Indigenous, Autonomy, Self-Government {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Northern-Territory/Government-and-society |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=18 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918022125/https://www.britannica.com/place/Northern-Territory/Government-and-society |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-13 |title=History of Self Government |url=https://territoryday.nt.gov.au/history-of-self-government/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=Territory Day |language=en-AU |archive-date=9 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909023053/https://territoryday.nt.gov.au/history-of-self-government/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  The [[Administrator of the Northern Territory]] is another important position in the government and they act as the King's representative in the Territory and a part of their role is appointing the Chief Minister.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government |first=Northern Territory |date=2023-09-22 |title=Role of the Administrator |url=https://govhouse.nt.gov.au/the-administrator/role-of-the-administrator |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=govhouse.nt.gov.au |language=en}}</ref> The Territory also publishes official notices in its own ''[[Northern Territory of Australia Government Gazette|Government Gazette]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Government |first=Northern Territory |date=2024-07-18 |title=Government Gazettes |url=https://nt.gov.au/about-government/gazettes |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=nt.gov.au |language=en |archive-date=30 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930205148/https://nt.gov.au/about-government/gazettes |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1980s, conservation-oriented areas in the Northern Territory such as [[Kakadu National Park]] and [[Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park]] were inscribed on the [[UNESCO World Heritage List]] for their mix of natural heritage and Aboriginal culture.

During 1995–96 the Northern Territory was briefly one of the few places in the world with [[Euthanasia in Australia#Northern Territory|legal voluntary euthanasia]], until the Federal Parliament overturned [[Rights of the Terminally Ill Act 1995|the legislation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/parliament/committees/rotti/parldebate.shtml|title=Select Committee on Euthanasia|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302220134/http://nt.gov.au/lant/parliament/committees/rotti/parldebate.shtml|archive-date=2 March 2011|date=13 September 2007|publisher=Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory}}</ref> Before the over-riding legislation was enacted, four people used the law supported by Dr [[Philip Nitschke]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fedele |first=Robert |date=2024-02-11 |title=How the Northern Territory trailblazed Australia's voluntary assisted dying laws |url=https://anmj.org.au/how-the-northern-territory-trailblazed-australias-voluntary-assisted-dying-laws/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal |language=en-AU |archive-date=7 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907121453/https://anmj.org.au/how-the-northern-territory-trailblazed-australias-voluntary-assisted-dying-laws/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Maitland-Newcastle |first=Catholic Diocese of |title=Philip Nitschke and 'rational suicide' {{!}} Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle |url=https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/news-events/news/philip-nitschke-and-rational-suicide/ |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=www.mn.catholic.org.au |archive-date=18 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918002224/https://www.mn.catholic.org.au/news-events/news/philip-nitschke-and-rational-suicide/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Davey |first=Melissa |date=2016-04-22 |title=Philip Nitschke, the man who thinks we should all choose when to die |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/apr/22/philip-nitschke-choose-when-to-die-euthanasia-advocate |access-date=2024-09-18 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=8 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008060404/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/apr/22/philip-nitschke-choose-when-to-die-euthanasia-advocate |url-status=live }}</ref>