Would you support this?
We could soon see Australia’s eight states/territories drop to seven with fresh calls being made to merge the Northern Territory and South Australia into one unified state.
The idea, which was previously raised in 2015 by a Northern Territory MP, would see the two areas merge into “Centralia” whereby the states would share one government, one economy and one set of laws.
The most recent call for unification came from former NT Attorney-General John Elferink in the form of multiple, lengthy letters to the editor in the NT News.
He proposed that forming ‘Centralia’ would result in a state “with resources to rival WA” that could have direct access to Asia, therefore a strong and prosperous economy.
However, with an economic crisis currently unfolding in the Northern Territory, the chances of South Australia supporting this move are very slim.
The Australian Conservative Senate candidate Rikki Lambert told news.com.au that the idea might be interesting to explore, however the terms are less than attractive to those in the South.
“You have a jurisdiction that is effectively broke wanting to join a South Australian jurisdiction that is only just coming off the dependence on state spending that we saw under Labour,” he stated.
Former SA premiers have attempted to forge closer bonds with the NT, however none have voiced their support for the merge.
The idea will continue to be discussed over the coming months.
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Written by Kate Stevens
Images: Google Images
