As the Northern Territory prepares to mark 40-years of self-governance, an all too familiar sentiment begins to simmer: could the south's quirky cousin ever truly be a state?

Sure, we can buy fireworks, wash down a slow-cooked saltwater crocodile with a pint and claim the UFO capital of Australia as our own.

But unlike the nation's states, the NT still has no control over land rights or uranium mining.

In fact, legislation passed by parliament can still be vetoed by the Commonwealth: an issue played out on the national stage with the undoing of the NT's landmark euthanasia laws in 1997.

COAG leaders backed the NT's resolve to become a state by this year back in 2015, but that's come to nothing.

So where does the NT go from here? And is statehood the solution?

We spoke to some of the pioneers who helped forge a more independent jurisdiction to find out.

Goff Letts: Majority Leader (1974-77)

Goff Letts is known as the "Father of Self Government" of the Northern Territory. ( Supplied: NT Archives )

Dubbed the "father of self-government", Goff Letts shies away from the moniker that has followed him through much of his life.

As the Majority Leader of the Northern Territory — the equivalent of a first minister in the federal and state governments — Mr Letts was tasked with negotiating with the Commonwealth for a greater say in the Territory's own affairs.

It was a war waged and lost by many before him, and in many ways, the boiling point of decades of simmering political tensions.

"We were being treated almost like a foreign country. The public servants in Canberra were extremely jealous of their own empires and didn't want to let anything go," he said.

"The idea of self-government and having things like Territory ministers and Territory public servants was quite disturbing to them."

So what changed when Canberra bowed to its rowdy northern neighbours?

Initially, not a lot, according to Mr Letts.

"There wasn't any great change except it was an enormous challenge. It was described in Canberra as an experiment, and I suppose there was a certain amount of truth in that," he said.

"It was up to these people with very little experience in politics and government to make it work."

Four decades on, Mr Letts believes the NT still has "a fair way to go" before it can call self-government a resounding success.

"Part of the problem is Canberra still has a grip on some of the Territory's greatest assets," he said.

"More than half of the land in the Northern Territory is governed by a federal law. Laws can be overturned... and until that's remedied, we still have a way to go, I'm afraid."

As for the prospect of statehood? As far as the "father of self-government" is concerned, it's not on the horizon.

"We can't talk about statehood until we achieve a greater amount of self-sufficiency, and we still have to do that I think," he said.

Dawn Lawrie: Independent MLA (1971-83)

Dawn Lawrie (front row, second from left) was the Independent MLA for Nightcliff ( Supplied: NT Archives )

Misogyny in politics can be rife on the best of days, so when the trail-blazing Dawn Lawrie was first elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Council in 1971, she knew she had her work cut out for her.

What the Independent MLA for Nightcliff didn't bank on was a group of like-minded misfits determined to put their differences aside to topple a common enemy: the Commonwealth.

"It wasn't a fully elected council, there were appointed members, senior public servants, and some people who were elected," she said.

"The appointed members felt that as they were there by right and not election, [so] quite often in a debate, no matter the political background of the elected members, we would gang up against the appointed members.

"There was a boys' club but it was fairly benevolent, because the main division was elected members against appointed members, and that overcame the initial feeling of the token woman."

Though self-governance may have changed the trajectory of the NT, Ms Lawrie believes statehood is achievable.

"We're not a colony of South Australia. This is an independent part of a wonderful country and we deserve the right to govern ourselves fully, whether it be bad decisions or good decisions," she said.

"The thing about being a fully-elected assembly is that if the government of the day consistently makes bad decisions, they get voted out. That's called democracy.

"Why should someone in Canberra decide whether legislation that our parliament has passed… who are they to challenge that? That's not democracy."

Paul Everingham: Chief Minister (1977-84)

Malcolm Fraser (R) and Paul Everingham (L) sign the NT into self-government in 1978. ( National Archives )

Taking the reigns of a newly-formed Territory doesn't come with an instruction manual — something the NT's first Chief Minister Paul Everingham discovered first-hand.

But underpinning the transition into self-governance was a resounding belief that it would make the NT "a better place for the people that lived in it".

"Under the Commonwealth it was like a giant mausoleum, with the dead hand of the Commonwealth really stopping people from doing things," Mr Everingham said.

"People couldn't buy land, so we freeholded land, mainly in the towns and cities like Darwin, so people could get on with owning and building a house, living lives like normal Australians."

Though Everingham (and many of his successors) "violently disagreed" with the Commonwealth's continued control over Territory issues — like national parks, uranium mining and land rights — he concedes significant headway has been made throughout the past 40 years.

However, he does not see statehood as the solution to the NT's woes.

"There would be Aboriginal people who [still] don't accept the NT Government as bona fide," he said.

"But what they have to realise is the Territory Government represents all Territorians, not just the vested interests of the Aboriginal people of the NT.

The NT currently has two seats in the House of Representatives in federal parliament and two senators (as does its fellow territory the ACT), compared to 12 senators granted to each state.

There has been much debate over the years about how Territorians would be represented in federal parliament if the NT were to achieve statehood, given that many agree that 12 senators is overkill for a jurisdiction of only about 250,000 people.

"I still do think statehood is a waste of time," Mr Everingham said.

"What are we going to get if we get statehood? They'll never give us 12 senators."

Marshall Perron: MLA (1974-95) and Chief Minister (1988-95)

The NT's first deputy Chief Minister Marshall Perron (R) at Darwin casino's opening in 1979. ( ABC News )

When the NT was granted self-governance, Marshall Perron was handed a $55 million cheque — quite literally — to open the NT Government's first bank account.

"We were working from that point on tremendous hours, because we were on a huge learning curve," the former deputy chief minister said.

"There was no sort of manual on how to takeover from a federal government 2,000 miles away which had run the NT like it was a distant colony."

Restoring basic infrastructure like roads and power, which had habitually been cut during the wet season, drove Mr Perron.

"And the community came with us, self-government was embraced," he said.

The cheque handed to Marshall Perron to open the NT's first bank account in 1978. ( Supplied: Marshall Perron )

However, the Commonwealth could still overturn any legislation they passed — and so they did.

After Australia's first euthanasia bill was introduced by Mr Perron and subsequently passed by the NT parliament, Canberra's iron fist was on full display.

"John Howard was the [federal] treasurer at self-government. He and [former prime minster] Malcolm Fraser were the two people we dealt with with the vision of taking the Territory forward," Mr Perron said.

"[Howard] was the man, 15 years-odd later, overturning Territory legislation. It was the biggest slap in the face ever."

Though Mr Perron believes statehood is "a long, long, long way away," he is advocating for a model dubbed "full self-government".

"Where the remaining powers the Government has are transferred to the Territory, and leave aside the issue of federal representation," he said.

"We could then at least administer the Territory as though it were a state."

Barry Coulter: Deputy Chief Minister (1986-95)

Former CLP deputy leader Barry Coulter (L) and chief minister Shane Stone. ( Supplied: Stone Family )

For Barry Coulter, the Royal Darwin Hospital stands as a poignant reflection of the Commonwealth's attitude towards the NT.

"It's a copy of a hospital out of Canberra, which is a copy of a hospital in Toronto in Canada," he said.

"And that's the reason why, in the tropics, we have a hospital with snow ledges on it.

"It was cheaper [for the Commonwealth] to copy the hospital in Canberra, and that's what we got — a hospital with snow ledges. That, I think, is a prime example of what Canberra thought of the NT at the time."

Most of the self-governance "hard yards" had been accomplished, Mr Coulter said, when his Country Liberals Party was elected to a 27-year reign in 1983.

However, he believes there is still "unfinished business".

"They haven't gone all the way, we still don't have control of our national parks and a range of other issues," he said.

"The other thing, of course, was the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976; I think it's still time to have a look at Territorians making decisions for Territorians, under Territorian legislation."

So is statehood the natural solution? For Mr Coulter, it's not out of the question.

"I think if you asked people, 'do you want statehood'? they would say yes, but under what terms and conditions? Those are the issues that need to be faced," he said.

"There's a lot of work to be done there, and I'm not sure that anyone is working on it at the moment."

Jack Ah Kit: Labor MLA (1995-05)

Former politician Jack Ah Kit (right) with then Chief Minister Shane Stone ( Supplied: Stone Family )

Jack Ah Kit never aspired to be one of the first Indigenous people elected to the NT Parliament, but it proved a natural fit.

"The responsibility was enormous and I applied myself to that, but I had about 25 years in Aboriginal politics which set me up really well," he said.

"All I had to do was learn the protocols, and once I got my confidence up, I gave it as good as I got."

Mr Ah Kit believes the NT has come "a fair way" since the 1967 referendum and self-governance, but concedes "we've got a long way to go".

"The best way for us to continue to make things better for all Territorians, especially Aboriginal, is that we have to stop… using the Indigenous issue as a political football, both in the Commonwealth arena and the Territory," he said.

"We need to have a bipartisan approach."

The former Labor MLA said that while he would like to see statehood before he dies, "I'm not holding my breath".

"I think the Territory can become a state, and we need to stand on our own two feet and govern what's best for us and in our best interests: the cutting of the umbilical cord from Canberra and the Commonwealth Government," he said.