Northern Territory referendum, 1998
Statehood for NT	Vote %
No	51.9
Yes	48.1

A referendum was held in the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

 on Saturday, 3 October 1998, to decide whether the Territory should become a State of the Commonwealth of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The Country Liberal Party government, and its federal counterpart, supported the Yes case. The opposition Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 supported the No case.

The referendum was narrowly defeated, 51.9% to 48.1%. The "Yes" case received 44,702 votes, the "No" case 48,241. There were 1068 informal ballots.

The result was widely interpreted as a personal rebuke to then Chief Minister Shane Stone

Shane Stone

Shane Leslie Stone AC, QC is an Australian political figure. From 26 May 1995 to 8 February 1999 he was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, representing the Country Liberal Party.-Biography:Stone was born in Bendigo, Victoria...

. Polls suggest that most Territorians continue to support statehood for the territory in principle.

Background

The territory has a legislative assembly

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral parliament of the Northern Territory in Australia. It sits in Parliament House, located on State Square, close to the centre of the city of Darwin.-History:...

. Whilst this assembly exercises roughly the same powers as the governments of the states of Australia, it does so by delegation of powers from the commonwealth government, rather than by any constitutional right. For several years there has been agitation for full statehood.

Under the Australian Constitution, the Federal government may set the terms of entry to full statehood. The Northern Territory was offered three Senators, rather than the twelve guaranteed to original states. (Because of the difference in populations, equal numbers of Senate seats would mean a Territorian's vote for a Senator would have been worth more than 30 votes in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 or Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

.) Alongside what was cited as an arrogant approach adopted by then Chief Minister Shane Stone

Shane Stone

Shane Leslie Stone AC, QC is an Australian political figure. From 26 May 1995 to 8 February 1999 he was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, representing the Country Liberal Party.-Biography:Stone was born in Bendigo, Victoria...

, it is believed that most Territorians were reluctant to adopt the offer which was made.

A bipartisan NT Legislative Assemby Committee, chaired by former Chief Minister Stephen Hatton

Stephen Hatton

Stephen Paul Hatton is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988. From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of Nightcliff...

, had proposed a draft Constitution and that it should be debated at an elected Constitutional Convention. Shane Stone ignored the latter recommendation, nominating a Convention membership of 53 members at short notice, and then presented to the Convention a draft Constitution that was different from the Committee's recommendation. Steve Hatton later said "one of the campaign slogans at the time was, we want statehood, not Stonehood".