Page 250 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 30 May 1989
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you are no doubt aware, it was my wish that the election would have afforded us the chance to provide a lead to the people of Australia in giving a form of government for the ACT that broke away from the combative model that seems to have to exist with a desire for government and opposition.
While I support the concept that a strong opposition is important to democracy within a true Westminster, or "Washminister", system as our federal system in Australia is often called by political scientists, we have here a much smaller parliament than any other legislature in our country. I have no doubt, Mr Speaker, that the electors of Canberra clearly decided on 4 March, with some help from the modified d'Hondt electoral system, that they were prepared to try something new. It was a matter of some concern to me that this opportunity was not taken up to enable a true cooperative system of government with a strong committee system to be put in place. I trust that this will eventually take place, particularly now that the committees have been formed and we have kept the Government, at least in some measure, to its promise on that issue.
We were told by many local and national print and electronic media analysts that this was really not possible. I must report that during the many hours of discussion and negotiation that took place, despite a degree of rhetoric that came from one of the groups, this was really not an option that the two so-called well-established parties were even prepared to contemplate. It would seem that, in the party political system that has slowly entrenched itself in our society's political makeup from the early days of political life in this century, we are not prepared to consider new ideas on government. It is worth noting, Mr Speaker, that in the early days of parliaments in this country the party system did not have the same control over our government as it does today. It was a matter of some regret to me personally that such a small group of parliamentary representatives had to opt for the combative model - a model that many of my contacts out there in voter land find a bit ridiculous. I trust that at some time in the future, maybe after the next election when it is most likely that the pattern of support for independents and parties like the Rally established in the Canberra and the recent Tasmanian election will be continued, this concept can be reconsidered.
In closing, Mr Speaker, I wish to refer briefly to the reason why I am here today. As a resident of Tuggeranong, which incidentally I see as well represented in this chamber, I became involved from the very first public meeting that was called to form the Tuggeranong Community Council. This group was formed to establish the procedure that would enable the residents via their community groups to be represented on advisory groups and participate in the planning process. However, it was after I became chairman of that organisation that I realised that, despite the good efforts of my predecessors, we had found that while some
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