The Northern Territory covers 1,349,129 sq km and has a population of about 195,500. Its capital is Darwin which is closer to Jakarta than it is to Sydney and closer to Singapore than it is to Melbourne.
History
Early attempts to settle this part of Australia were mainly due to British fears that the French or Dutch might get a foothold. Between 1824 and 1829 Fort Dundas on Melville Island and Fort Wellington on the Cobourg Peninsula were settled and then abandoned due to disease and lack of supplies in the tropical climate.
A good harbour was discovered in 1839 by John Stokes aboard the HMS Beagle, who named it Port Darwin after former shipmate Charles Darwin. A settlement was established in 1869. Darwin's growth was accelerated by the discovery of gold at Pine Creek, about 200km south, in 1871. But once the gold fever had run its course, Darwin's development slowed down, due to the harsh, unpredictable climate and poor communications with other Australian cities.
From 1863 this part of Australia was annexed to the colony of South Australia. It was often referred to as the ‘Northern Territory of South Australia’. In 1911 the Northern Territory was established as a separate entity under Commonwealth control.
World War II put Darwin permanently on the map when the town became an important base for Allied action against the Japanese in the Pacific. The road south to the railhead at Alice Springs was tarred, finally giving improved access with the rest of the country. Darwin was bombed 64 times during the war and 243 people lost their lives. The city was completely devastated by Cyclone Tracey in 1974.
Since then Darwin has progressively developed as an important centre for administration and mining and has a role as the front door to Australia's northern region. In 1978 extended powers of self-government were achieved. The Northern Territory elects two members to the Commonwealth House of Representatives and two Senators.
Adelaide - Darwin Railway
In 1878 South Australia began to build its Great Northern Railway. Starting in Port Augusta it wound its way through the Pichi Richi Pass and crossed the western plains via Hawker, Beltana and Farina reaching Marree in 1883. It reached Oodnadatta in 1891. At the other end, construction started on the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway in 1883.
South Australia relinquished its control of the Northern Territory in 1911 and as part of the handover negotiations, the Commonwealth Government agreed to complete the Adelaide to Darwin railway. In 1926, the lines were extended to Alice Springs from the south and to Birdum from the north. The remaining thousand or so kilometres between Birdum and Alice Springs, however, was never completed and the line closed in 1976.
In 1980 a new line was completed from Tarcoola to Alice Springs replacing the slow and often flood affected route though Marree and Oodnadatta. In 2003 the Australian, SA and NT governments and a private consortium completed a new line from Alice Springs to Darwin using some of the North Australia Railway’s route.
Figure 44 - Northern Territory
