Government says it will ensure two lower house seats for the NT

The federal government says it will put forward legislation that ensures the NT and the ACT will have at least two seats in the House of Representatives.

Senator Malarndirri McCarthy reads the names of Indigneous deaths in custody this year

Senator Malarndirri McCarthy has welcomed legislated protections of the NT's two lower house seats Source: SBS News

The federal government says the Northern Territory will be guaranteed a least two seats in the House of Representatives. 

On Friday the government announced the Northern Territory and the ACT would get legal protection to ensure their representation in the lower house.

The new laws will mean both territories have a minimum of two House of Representatives seats each.

The NT was expected to lose one of its two seats, due to population decline.

But the Territory's federal representatives have been campaigning to save their second seat since the Australian Electoral Commission recommended it be scrapped earlier this year.

Garrwa Yanyuwa woman and senator for the Northern Territory, Malarndirri McCarthy, who has been at the forefront of the campaign, welcomed the government's support for legislating a minimum two seats for the Territory but said it's not something that should have had to be fought for.

"It’s something that we should not have had to do but, hey, we did it," she told ABC Radio.

"And we were told we would never win, and hey we won. So, yes it’s a fantastic feeling, but we’ve got to now get on with the business of other matters that are affecting Territorians."

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By Keira Jenkins
Source: NITV News


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