North Australia

North Australia can refer to a former territory, a former colony or a proposed state which would replace the current Northern Territory.

Colony (1846-1847)

A colony of North Australia existed briefly after it was authorised by letters patent of 17 February 1846. The colony comprised all land in the Northern Territory and the present state of Queensland lying north of 26ºS. The capital was at Port Curtis now called Gladstone under Colonel George Barney as Lieutenant-Governor and Superintendent. Charles Augustus FitzRoy, the Governor of New South Wales, was Governor.^[1][2] The Letters Patent establishing the colony were revoked in December the same year, after a change of government in Britain, although Colonel Barney and his party did not receive the news until 1847, when the news arrived in Sydney on 15 April 1847. The colony was intended as a new penal colony after the end of transportation in the older Australian colonies.^[3]

Territory (1927-1931)

North Australia was a short-lived territory of Australia. On 1 February 1927, the Northern Territory was split into two territories, North Australia and Central Australia.^{[4] [5]} On 12 June 1931, the two were reunited as Northern Territory. The Commonwealth legislation giving force to the separation was the North Australia Act 1926.^[6]

Future state

North Australia has also been proposed as the name to be adopted by the Northern Territory if it becomes a state of Australia.

See also

• Gladstone
• Northern Australia
• Northern Territory
• History of Australia
• Central Australia
• States and territories of Australia
• Territorial evolution of Australia
• Proposals for new Australian States

References

Gladstone... City that waited, Lorna McDonald, ISBN 095991241X

Notes

1. ^ The colony was proclaimed at a ceremony at Settlement Point on 30 January 1847. The establishment of the new colony, and its status as a penal colony, attracted much criticism in the NSW Legislastive Council.Official Queensland Website - " Establishing Queensland's borders", retrieved 9 February 2007
2. ^ National Archives of Australia - "Governor Darling's Commission 1825", retrieved 9 February 2007
3. ^ HOGAN, J.F.: The Gladstone Colony. An Unwritten Chapter in Australian History. London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1898. http://www.treloars.com/catalogues/ntl37.htm
4. ^ North Australia. Administration (1928). In Report on the administration of North Australia. Govt. Printer, Canberra
5. ^ Baillie, Jill (1990). Struggling to achieve the vision splendid: the North Australia Commission, 1926/ 1930. In Northern Perspective. 13 (2), 23-32.
6. ^ "RESIDENT GOVERNORS.". Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909-1954) (Qld.: National Library of Australia): p. 5. 20 August 1926. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article40556001. Retrieved 12 July 2011. 

Coordinates: 20°48′23.07″S 139°31′42.69″E / 20.8064083°S 139.528525°E / -20.8064083; 139.528525