The Chief Electoral Officer has forwarded for advice the following memorandum:

A question has been raised as to the qualifications of candidates under the Northern Territory Representation Act. In paragraph (a) of section 4 of the Act the following words occur:

... he must be ... an elector entitled to vote at the election of the member representing the Northern Territory, or a person qualified to become such elector. The question relates to the words [emphasised]. Do they mean that a person, in order to be qualified to be nominated, must live in the Territory, and have lived therein, for at least one month prior to nomination day? It seems to be clear that such a person would be qualified for nomination whether he was on the Roll or not. It would also seem that a person whose ordinary place of living is in the Northern Territory and who is clearly only temporarily absent therefrom would be a good candidate.

The view taken by a considerable number of prospective candidates resident in the States is that if they are enrolled as Commonwealth electors or have the right to Commonwealth enrolment and would, if they were living in the Northern Territory, be qualified for enrolment in the Territory, they are good candidates for nomination for election as members for the Territory. This, however, does not seem to be the intention of the Act, and if, as a matter of law, such persons are not qualified to be elected, a further question will arise as to what action the Returning Officer should take in regard to their nominations.

The law governing the qualifications of electors in the Northern Territory is contained in the Northern Territory Electoral Regulations.

Regulation 19 of those Regulations provides as follows:

Subject to the disqualification set out in this Part, all persons not under 21 years of age, whether male or female, married or unmarried-

1. who have lived in Australia for six months continuously, and
2. who are natural-born or naturalized subjects of the King,

shall be entitled to enrolment subject to the provisions of Part VI of these Regulations.

Regulation 24 (1), which is contained in Part VI, provides as follows:

Any person qualified for enrolment, who lives in a Subdivision of the Territory, and has so lived for a period of one month last past, shall be entitled to have his name placed on the Roll for the Subdivision in which he lives.

By regulation 13 (3) all the Subdivision Rolls together form the Roll for the Territory.

In order to be qualified to become an elector a person must, in my opinion, be qualified as an elector under regulation 19, and must also be entitled to enrolment under the provisions of Part VI. For that purpose he must live in a Subdivision of the Territory and have so lived for a period of one month immediately prior to the time when the question of eligibility arises.

If the Returning Officer is satisfied that any person nominated as a candidate is not legally qualified, he should reject the nomination. If, however, he is doubtful whether a candidate is legally qualified, but time does not permit of his satisfying himself on the point, he should accept the nomination.

[Vol. 19, p. 66]