The Honourable Shane Stone AC, QC |
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5th Chief Minister of the Northern Territory |
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In office 26 May 1995 – 8 February 1999 |
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Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Deputy | Mike Reed |
Preceded by | Marshall Perron |
Succeeded by | Denis Burke |
Personal details | |
Born |
Bendigo, Victoria |
25 September 1950
Political party | Country Liberal Party |
Shane Leslie Stone AC, QC (born 25 September 1950) is an Australian political figure. From 26 May 1995 to 8 February 1999 he was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, representing the Country Liberal Party.
First elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Electoral division of Port Darwin as a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) in 1990, Stone held several portfolios, including Attorney-General, Education and the Arts, Employment and Training, Mines and Energy, Industries and Development, and Asian Relations and Trade. In late 1997 Stone attracted sustained criticism when as the First Law Officer being the Attorney-General he appointed himself a Queen's Counsel.
Stone was the Chief Minister during the referendum for statehood for the Northern Territory in 1998. Electors were asked to vote on whether the Northern Territory should become a state with a constitution that had been approved by a Constitutional Assembly. A bipartisan committee of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly had recommended a constitution and that it should be further considered by an elected Constitutional Assembly. The CLP Government put forward a different constitution to a non-elected Constitutional Assembly. The referendum failed narrowly. The following year Stone resigned as Chief Minister; 18 months later the CLP under Denis Burke lost the next Territory election after 27 years in power. In 1999 he became the federal President of the Liberal Party of Australia, and was appointed a Commander of the Order of Kinabalu by the Malaysian state of Sabah.