Page 432 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 19 February 1991
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The second point that I made was that we were after a system of single member electorates. You seem to deny, or are trying to deny, or you misunderstood, perhaps - as I said, it is getting a bit late - that what we are seeking to do is to incorporate a system of preferential voting. So, we support preferential voting.
Mr Kaine: You said that the d'Hondt system was a preferential system.
MR BERRY: Of a sort. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will not go on in relation to that standing order 47 matter.
Mr Jensen: I thought you were debating.
MR BERRY: You could have made it a point of order, Norm. You are the one who is supposed to know what is going on around here. I just have to express concern - and delight, somewhat - at discovering what Gary Humphries is on about. What I said was true and, by his own admission, we now know that the patron saint of modified d'Hondt is Gary Humphries.
MR STEVENSON (10.01): Mr Berry suggests that Mr Simmons was not going to do away with the right of Canberrans to use their votes in a preferential manner. Yet, in a media release, Mr Simmons stated at item 4:
Voters cannot express valid preferences for candidates of more than one party, or for more than one independent candidate.
In other words, they will not have the right to use their vote to give preferences. That would seem to be fairly simple, as has been pointed out by a number of members of the Alliance. Mr Berry's statement has as much validity as his suggestion that I no longer hold the values or the name of the Abolish Self Government Coalition. Indeed, one would think that, when Mr Berry walks past my office, as he is looking at the rat poison in the window he would also look at the name, Abolish Self Government Coalition. I will have to give him a card.
As to what Canberrans should have as an electoral system, the Labor Party would suggest that the Canberra Times was correct. Let us have a look at the Canberra Times Datacol poll on what the preferences of Canberrans are.
Ms Follett: What date was that?
MR STEVENSON: I put the media release out on 28 August 1990. I said that there were lies, damn lies and Datacol polls. I always send them a copy. Immediately I saw the results suggesting that Canberrans wanted single member electorates, I knew that that was not true - - -
Mr Connolly: "Because they want me".
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