| Chief Minister of the Northern Territory | |
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| Department of the Chief Minister | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Status | Head of government |
| Abbreviation | CM |
| Member of |
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| Reports to | Parliament |
| Seat | Darwin, Northern Territory |
| Appointer | Administrator of the Northern Territory by convention, based on appointee's ability to command confidence in the Legislative Assembly |
| Term length | At the Administrator's pleasure contingent on the chief minister's ability to command confidence in the house of Parliament |
| Constituting instrument | None (constitutional convention) |
| Formation | 19 October 1974 as Majority Leader 1 July 1978 as chief minister |
| First holder | Goff Letts as Majority Leader Paul Everingham as chief minister |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory |
| Salary | A$325,392[1] |
| Website | www.chiefminister.nt.gov.au |
The chief minister of the Northern Territory is the head of government of the Northern Territory. The office is the equivalent of a state premier. When the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly was created in 1974, the head of government was officially known as majority leader. This title was used in the first parliament (1974–1977) and the first eighteen months of the second. When the Northern Territory acquired limited self-government in 1978, the title of the head of government became chief minister with greatly expanded powers, though still somewhat less than those of a state premier.
The chief minister is formally appointed by the administrator, who in normal circumstances will appoint the head of whichever party holds the majority of seats in the unicameral Legislative Assembly. In times of constitutional crisis, the administrator can appoint someone else as chief minister, though this has never occurred.
Since 28 August 2024, following the 2024 Northern Territory general election, the chief minister is Lia Finocchiaro of the Country Liberal Party. She is the fourth female chief minister of the Northern Territory.
- ^ Tyeson, Cam (1 June 2021). "Here's How Much Every State Premier Gets Paid If You Wanna Get Boomer-Tier Mad About Yr Taxes". Pedestrian. Retrieved 26 June 2022.