Arcadian populism

: the Country Liberal Party and self-government in the Northern Territory

Abstract

This thesis explores the theory of Arcadianism and combines it with the practice of populism, applying both to the Country Liberal Party and its application of policy following self-government in the Northern Territory with particular emphasis on, but not limited to, land and development. The thesis introduces two further elements: invention of tradition and character or ‘imagined community’; and race, which round out the proposition that there were four elements to the CLP’s successful and enduring reign of governance in the Northern Territory. As a matter of political history, the thesis argues that CLP policies resulted in marginalisation and exclusion of the Aboriginal community from the rest of the Northern Territory population – the latter exclusively identified as ‘Territorian’ - and that this was a deliberate and direct result of the CLP’s entrenched opposition to the Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act (Cth).

Date of Award	2011
Original language	English
Supervisor	Bill Wilson (Supervisor), Dennis Shoesmith (Supervisor) & Christine Doran (Supervisor)