§ MR. HOGAN (Tipperary, Mid)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the administration of the Northern Territory by South Australia is of a permanent or temporary character; what rights, if any, in this territory are still retained by the Imperial Government; and in what relation will the Northern Territory stand towards the Government of the Australian Commonwealth.
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. J. CHAMBERLAIN,) Birmingham, W.The Northern Territory was annexed to South Australia by Letters Patent in 1863, Her Majesty reserving full right to revoke or amend these Letters Patent. So long as these remain unaltered the territory is an integral part of the colony. The Imperial Government have exactly the same rights in the Northern Territory as in any other part of the colony, which will enter the Commonwealth as a whole, and will stand in the same relation to the Government of the Commonwealth as the rest of the colony.