The answer is no.
The Northern Territory exists by virtue of Commonwealth legislation. The Commonwealth took over the NT from South Australia as part of the deals that brought the Australian colonies into the federation. The NT was a basket case, a hot potato so SA ditched the NT and handed it to the Commonwealth (Northern Territory Acceptance Act 1910 (Cth)).
The Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth) creates the NT Government. The Commonwealth Parliament could make the NT Government disappear by repealing the the self-government act. This seems most unlikely at the present time but in the future circumstances may change.
So it seems the NT has always been basket case!
TransparentNT 