North Australia facts for kids
North Australia refers to different ideas for a region in northern Australia. It was once a short-lived British colony. Later, it was a federal territory of Australia for a few years. Today, "North Australia" can also mean a proposed new state that would replace the current Northern Territory.
A Short-Lived Colony (1846–1847)
A colony called North Australia existed for a very short time. It was officially created on 17 February 1846 by a special document from the British government called a letters patent.
This new colony included all the land that is now the Northern Territory. It also covered the part of Queensland that is north of the 26th parallel south (an imaginary line of latitude).
The capital city of this colony was Port Curtis, which is now known as Gladstone. Colonel George Barney was in charge as the Lieutenant-Governor. The Governor of New South Wales, Charles Augustus FitzRoy, was also the Governor for North Australia.
The colony was officially announced on 30 January 1847. However, many people in the New South Wales Legislative Council (a type of parliament) did not like the idea. They especially disliked that it was meant to be a new penal colony. A penal colony was a place where criminals were sent from Britain.
The British government changed its mind and cancelled the colony in December 1846. Colonel Barney and his group did not hear the news until April 1847, when it arrived in Sydney. The colony was originally planned to be a new place for prisoners after Britain stopped sending them to older Australian colonies.
A Federal Territory (1927–1931)
North Australia was also a territory of Australia for a few years. In the 1920s, George Pearce, who was a government minister, thought the Northern Territory was too big to manage well.
So, on 1 February 1927, the Northern Territory was split into two parts. These were North Australia and Central Australia. North Australia was the part above latitude 20° S, and Central Australia was the part below it.
However, this split did not last long. On 12 June 1931, the two territories were joined back together. They became the Northern Territory once again.
