Please Note - all dates are postponed until further notice.
A constitution is the document that sets out the rules for our system of government.
A constitution sets up the Parliament, the Courts and the Executive (the Ministers who control the public service) and how they all operate. It is sometimes considered the strongest law that permits all other laws to exist.
If the Northern Territory is to become a State it needs a constitution.
At the moment, the Northern Territory is ‘constituted’ as a ‘body politic’ by the Northern Territory Self Government Act 1978 which is a law of the Commonwealth Parliament. This law can be changed by the Commonwealth Parliament at any time, and it has been changed a number of times since 1978.
The Australian Constitution sets out how the federal system of government works including the relationship between the Commonwealth and the States. The Australian Constitution requires a majority of electors in a majority of states to agree to a question at a referendum (vote by the people) to change anything in that Constitution (This has happened 8 times out of 44 attempts in the past 109 years).
State constitutions are old documents from colonial times (before 1901) setting up the governments of their states and they are generally not as difficult to change. Some constitutions may have entrenched provisions which will require a referendum to change and other provisions may be changed by the parliament.
Some constitutions may require a special majority of a parliament to change what is in the constitution.
What a constitution should contain:
- Legislative power – the parliament must have the power to make laws just like the existing State parliaments do.
- The Executive should be made up of a Head of State (Governor representing the Head of State) and Ministers who are members of parliament.
- An independent judiciary.
What a constitution might contain:
- A constitution could recognise special rights or it could require parliament or government to do certain things.
- A constitution might contain entrenched powers – meaning there needs a referendum (vote by the people) to change the constitution.
- A constitution might recognise original peoples in its preamble (general statement of principles) or in specific provisions.
During 2010 Territorians are being asked to come to an Information Roadshow to talk about what should go in a Northern Territory State Constitution. This is your opportunity to decide how your government works by taking part in designing it for the future.
