Stephen Hatton

{{Short description|Australian politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}

{{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-prefix =

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|image = Stephen Hatton Potrait.jpg

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|order = 3rd

|office = Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

|term_start = 15 May 1986

|term_end = 13 July 1988

|deputy = Barry Coulter (1986–1987, 1987–1988)
Ray Hanrahan (1987)

|predecessor = Ian Tuxworth

|successor = Marshall Perron

|constituency_AM2 = Nightcliff

|assembly2 = Northern Territory Legislative

|term_start2 = 3 December 1983

|term_end2 = 17 August 2001

|predecessor2 = Dawn Lawrie

|successor2 = Jane Aagaard

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|1|28|df=y}}

|birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

|death_date =

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|birthname = Stephen Paul Hatton

|nationality =

|party = Country Liberal Party

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|alma_mater = University of New South Wales

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|cabinet = Hatton Ministry

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Stephen Paul Hatton (born 28 January 1948) is an Australian politician, who was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory of Australia from 1986 to 1988.[http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/pub/Ministries%20-%201974%20to%2026%20August%202001.pdf Northern Territory Government Ministries 1st to 8th Assembly, 1974 - 2001] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506202842/http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/pub/Ministries%20-%201974%20to%2026%20August%202001.pdf |date=6 May 2006 }} From 1983 until his retirement in 2001, he was MLA for the seat of Nightcliff. He first became a minister in December 1984 in the Ian Tuxworth government.[http://www.ntl.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/5412/ntc1984.pdf Northern Territory Chronicle 1984]

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{{NT parlbox|term=4th|start={{NT election link|1983}}|end=1987|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=Nightcliff}}

{{NT parlbox|term=5th|start={{NT election link|1987}}|end=1990|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=Nightcliff}}

{{NT parlbox|term=6th|start={{NT election link|1990}}|end=1994|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=Nightcliff}}

{{NT parlbox|term=7th|start={{NT election link|1994}}|end=1997|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=Nightcliff}}

{{NT parlbox|term=8th|start={{NT election link|1997}}|end=2001|party=Country Liberal Party|electorate=Nightcliff}}

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He played an important role in the referendum for statehood for the Northern Territory in 1998. He had served for many years on a bipartisan committee of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, which had recommended a constitution and an elected Constitutional Assembly to give it further consideration. The then Chief Minister, Shane Stone put forward a different constitution to a non-elected Constitutional Assembly. Steve Hatton was prominent in opposing this kind of statehood. The referendum failed, and he was reported as saying "One of the campaign slogans at the time was: 'we want statehood, not Stonehood'".[http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/stories/s13445.htm ABC Lateline]