A new state could soon join Australia's hallowed federation.
Australia's state and territory leaders announced on Thursday they supported the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s proposal that the territory become Australia’s seventh state by July 1, 2018.
Sure its more than 227,900 citizens deserve fair political representation and it's got some beautiful landmarks, but there are other very good reasons why the Northern Territory deserves to become Australia's newest state.
Here are seven of them.
1. They have the only newspaper fit to print
NT News has given the world so much joy. What other newspaper can put out a front page like this?
We hope being the best paper in the state rather than the territory doesn't dampen their spirits.
THE NT COULD BECOME A STATE IN 2018. THAT MEANS WE'LL BE BORING LIKE YOU OTHER SOUTHERNERS http://t.co/kCFCce5NGK pic.twitter.com/vxrDRfp3Tm— The NT News (@TheNTNews) July 23, 2015
2. Northern Territorians know how to settle their differences
When love is thwarted up there, our northern friends take matters squarely into their own hands.
Who can forget Robert Turner, who drove a monster truck onto the black Holden commodore of his rival in love, and who thoughtfully kept the Facebook posts flowing as the police came and arrested him.
3. They send princes to hang out with crocodiles
Where else do you get a photo op with Prince Harry like this?
In fact, everyone loves the royals up there: The locals recently dangled Dutch tourists in a faulty cage over two crocodiles named after the royal couple -- William and Kate.
4. They can't handle the cold
The average maximum temperature in Darwin in July (the Aussie winter) is 30.6 degrees Celsius (87 degrees Fahrenheit), while the minimum is 19.3 degrees Celsius (67 degrees Fahrenheit). And yet, there's whining.
There's seriously nothing more Australian than complaining about the weather, so make them a state already.
It's 14 degrees!!! @TheNTNews pic.twitter.com/Kb7RGpAhBL— Sam Edwards (@samueloedwards) July 14, 2015
5. They're environmentalists
In July, Northern Territory local, Frederick Tomlinson, heard about a bunch of rubbish that had been dumped in the bush near his house.
On arriving at the unsightly pile, Tomlinson was please to find the trash's owner was readily identifiable with the handy photo ID he had left behind. So, he carefully returned it to his front yard.
"We just assumed it must have bounced out of his truck so we returned it to its rightful owner,” Tomlinson told the NT News. That's just the type of kindly neighbours Australians would want in a state.
6. A dingo once really did eat a baby
No, this really happened.
As you may know from the Meryl Streep movie, the daughter of Australian woman Lindy Chamberlain famously disappeared from a Northern Territory campsite in 1980 and was later found deceased. Although Chamberlain was convicted of the murder at the time, 32 years later a coroner ruled that baby Azaria had indeed been taken from her cot by a dingo, just as her mother had always said.
7. If it becomes a state, we'll get to rename the thing
Never miss an opportunity for a good naming, guys.
WE LOVE CROCTOPIA BUT WE'RE LOOKING FOR WHAT YOU THINK THE NORTHERN TERRITORY SHOULD BE CALLED IF IT BECOMES A STATE pic.twitter.com/Szq1goQLh2— The NT News (@TheNTNews) July 23, 2015
@TheNTNews "Fear Itself"— ginger (@gingerest) July 23, 2015
@TheNTNews Topsmania or maybe Crocsmania?— David (@normallycomplex) July 23, 2015
@TheNTNews Bruce?— Steve (@steven_johno) July 23, 2015
@TheNTNews @apmd STRAYA— ric (@2ricz) July 23, 2015
Hopefully we can welcome this deserving territory to statehood as soon as possible.