Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council, 1960–1962

This is a list of members of the Northern Territory Legislative Council from 20 February 1960 to 8 December 1962.

The mass resignations from the Council in April 1958 forced the government's hand, and all council members attended a July 1958 reform conference in Canberra at the invitation of Paul Hasluck, the federal Minister for Territories. The conference resulted in a number of reforms which were legislated in the Northern Territory (Administration) Amendment Act 1959.

The reforms led to the first re-structure of the Council since its inception. The number of members of the Council was increased from 14 to 17. Eight members were elected to eight single-member electorates: Alice Springs, Arnhem, Barkly, Elsey, Fannie Bay, Larrakeyah, Port Darwin and Stuart. The remaining members were appointed by the Administrator, but with a distinction between Official Members and Non-official Members. Non-official members were not to be government officers as the official members were. The Administrator retained his regular and casting vote, but it was possible for the elected members voting as a bloc to obtain a majority by gaining the support of one or more non-official members.[1]

The 1962 election saw the first woman member of the Legislative Council, Lyn Berlowitz, an independent member for Fannie Bay.[2]

Name Party Electorate/Title Years in office
Colin Adams Appointed Director of Mines 1955–1970
James Archer OBE Appointed Administrator 1956–1961
Hugh Barclay Appointed Director of Lands 1948–1963
Lyn Berlowitz Independent Fannie Bay 1960–1962
Harold Brennan[3] Independent Elsey 1955, 1956–1958, 1958–1971
Bill Curteis Appointed Director of Agriculture 1962–1964
Fred Drysdale Labor Arnhem 1954–1957, 1960–1969
Joe Fisher Appointed (N)[1] 1961–1968, 1969–1974
Harry Giese Appointed Director of Welfare 1954–1973
Neil Hargrave Independent Alice Springs 1954–1958, 1958–1962
Bernie Kilgariff Appointed (N)[1] 1960–1968, 1969–1974
Reg Marsh Appointed Assistant Secretary, Department of Territories 1955–1957, 1958–1962
Duncan Mathieson Appointed (N)[1] 1960–1963
Roger Nott Appointed Administrator 1961–1964
Wilhelm Petrick Independent Stuart 1951–1958, 1958–1962
Len Purkiss Independent Tennant Creek 1951–1966
Lucius Richardson[2] Independent Labor Larrakeyah 1960
Lionel Rose OBE Appointed Director of Animal Industry Branch 1954–1958, 1962–1965
John Tonkin Appointed (N)[1] 1960–1961
Richard Ward Independent Labor Darwin 1957–1958, 1958–1963
James Watts[2] Labor Larrakeyah 1961–1962
James Whittam Appointed Director of Animal Industry Branch 1958–1963
Ron Withnall Appointed Crown Law Officer 1954–1966
1 "Appointed (N)" indicates the councillor was a Non-official Member appointed by the Territory Administrator, but generally from a community or business background, not a government official or public servant.
2 Lucius Richardson resigned from the Council on 1 December 1960. Labor member James Watts replaced him in a by-election held on 28 January 1961.
3 Harold Brennan resigned as member for Elsey on 9 December 1961, to contest the federal Division of Northern Territory at the federal election on the same day. He was unsuccessful in unseating Jock Nelson, and nominated at the by-election to fill the vacancy. Brennan was re-elected on 17 February 1962.

See also

References

  1. ^ Heatley, Alistair (1979). The government of the Northern Territory. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 0702211400.
  2. ^ Jaensch, Dean (1990). The Legislative Council of the Northern Territory: An Electoral History 1947–1974. Darwin: Australian National University.