1998 Northern Territory referendum

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1998 Northern Territory referendum

3 October 1998 (1998-10-03)
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 44,702 48.10% No 48,241 51.90% Valid votes 92,943 98.86% Invalid or blank votes 1,068 1.14% Total votes 94,011 100.00%

A referendum was held in the Northern Territory on Saturday, 3 October 1998, to decide whether the Territory should become a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Country Liberal Party government, and its federal counterpart, supported the Yes case. The opposition Labor Party 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 invalid ballots.

The result was widely interpreted as a personal rebuke to then Chief Minister Shane Stone. Polls suggest that most of the people living in the Northern Territory continue to support statehood for the territory in principle.^[1]

The failed referendum has been seen as the trigger for the demise of the CLP government which had been in power since 1974.

In February 1999, months after the failed referendum, Stone resigned as Chief Minister with the failed referendum being the trigger for his ousting.

He was replaced by Denis Burke who then led the CLP to defeat in 2001 election marking the end of 27 years of CLP rule.^[2]