Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner has urged Territorians to demand statehood after the Senate narrowly voted down a bill that would have restored their right to legalise euthanasia.
Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm's private bill to restore the NT and ACT's right to legislate on assisted dying was defeated 36-34 against on Wednesday after at least four senators withdrew support at the last minute.
The NT received self-government in 1978 but the Commonwealth can override its legislation as occurred when voluntary euthanasia was legalised in 1995 but made void by the Kevin Andrews bill in 1997.
Mr Gunner, a lifelong Territorian, said to suffer another defeat on the democratic rights of the NT government to decide its own laws was a "kick in the guts".
"Like many Territorians I am angry at the games that get played in the Australian parliament," he said, referring to the last-minute reversals by some senators and the fact the vote was a part of crossbench "horse trading" with Senator Leyonhjelm.
"I also think we need to see an organic community movement around statehood in the Territory like there is one for the republican movement.
"I believe in statehood and have seen the Australian government continually intervene in the Northern Territory like we are some sort of Petri dish.
"We've seen the intervention, we've seen our rights overturned at the beginning with the euthanasia debate and it again happened last night."
He said he was laughed at when he raised statehood at his first Council of Australian Governments meeting, which he blamed on damage to the NT's reputation during the previous Giles CLP government.
He also said he was optimistic the Senate vote could be reversed.
Labor MPs Luke Gosling of the NT and the ACT's Andrew Leigh are co-sponsoring a bill in the House of Representatives instead to debate the issue.
Mr Gosling said he was appealing to CLP NT Senator Nigel Scullion, who argued strongly to treat Territorians as equals and pass the bill, to "get into the ear of the prime minister and reframe it in his mind as an issue of the democratic rights of all Australians".
