Page 90 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 1991
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whatsoever - in other words, another electoral system which is alien to Australian electorates. I trust that we will see a review of what seems to be an unfair system.
We have heard the Labor Party express a commitment to a fair electoral system for the ACT and also for parliaments within Australia. One hopes that they will be able to convince their Federal colleagues to do a little bit better than what we see being proposed at the moment. Mr Wood in his closing comments also suggested that I felt the recommendation for changes to the d'Hondt system provided the only way I could get re-elected. Frankly, I believe that it is more important to provide the people of Canberra with a voting system that provides a fair result, and one that truly reflects the wishes of the community. In closing my remarks in response to Mr Wood, I agree with him that the report is a clear endorsement of self-government, and I am sure it will provide a useful reference document when the history of ACT self-government is eventually written.
Let me now turn to the comments made by the Chief Minister on behalf of the Government in response to the report. I was very pleased to see the strong support given to the recommendations about the repatriation to the ACT Assembly of the basic principles of self-government - control of the voting system and associated matters; control of the size of the Assembly and the Executive; and the ability of the Federal Parliament, via the Governor-General, to disallow or amend Territory law. I notice that that was one point, in fact, that was not picked up by the Opposition.
Frankly, the form of self-government we have under the various self-government Acts is really a Clayton's form of self-government. It is time that the Federal Government finally cut the apron strings for the ACT people. Certainly, the financial treatment handed to us by the Commonwealth since self-government is a travesty of justice. The amount currently locked up by Mr Keating is some $50m, and no doubt that will increase after the next budget is passed if the track record of the Commonwealth is anything to go by.
I also acknowledge the comment by the Chief Minister that the Commonwealth should fix our discredited electoral system and then repatriate the responsibility to the ACT people. I also note support for a referendum on the issue, if and when the decision is passed to the Assembly. It is also good to see the support for the suggestion that the cost of any referendum should be met by the Commonwealth. I note particularly the support from the Leader of the Opposition for that suggestion. This recommendation, of course, was fully supported by the unanimous report on the electoral system and the first ACT election by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.
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