The Constitution
Territory senators
07 August 1974
The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory are granted representation in the Senate for the first time.
The people of the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory did not have representation in the Senate until Parliament passed the Senate (Representation of Territories) Act 1973 during the joint sitting of parliament in 1974. Each territory is represented by 2 senators.
The creation of the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory in 1911 led to their residents losing all parliamentary representation. They were required to obey laws they had no part in making. Section 122 of the Australian Constitution allows the Australian Parliament to give federal representation to territories. The Northern Territory was given a seat in the House of Representatives in 1922 and the Australian Capital Territory in 1949, although these representatives did not have full voting rights until 1968 and 1966 respectively.
Because the population of the external territories is small, they are included in mainland federal electorates. For example, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands are part of the Northern Territory electorate of Lingiari and the ACT electorate of Bean also includes Norfolk Island.
The Liberal and National Country Parties, ACT Policy, 1975
ACT Heritage Library
The Liberal and National Country Parties, ACT Policy, 1975
ACT Heritage Library
Description
This pamphlet shows the candidates the Liberal and National Country Parties ran for election in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in the 1975 federal election. ACT residents were electing senators for the first time in 1975. The ACT and Northern Territory were not granted Senate representation until the Senate (Representation of Territories) Act 1973 was passed in 1974.