Page 2269 - Week 08 - Friday, 21 June 1991
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Mr Stefaniak: Not in Canberra, because of you lot.
MR SPEAKER: Order!
MR JENSEN: It is very interesting, Mr Speaker, that the people on my left here should say, "Oh, but they had problems". It is very interesting because a group of Independents are holding the balance of power in the New South Wales Parliament. It is a group of Independents - - -
Mr Wood: A much smaller group.
MR JENSEN: It does not matter; a group of Independents are actually holding the balance of power in the Tasmanian Parliament.
The concepts and ideas that have been put before you, the members of this house, today by my colleague Mr Collaery have not come just from the minds of Mr Collaery, me and others. They are based on the charter of reform that was provided to the New South Wales Government by the Independents groups within the New South Wales Parliament. I would refer members, for their edification, to an article in the Tuesday, 18 June 1991, edition of the Australian headed, "Charter of Independents offers voters a good deal". That is where these concepts and ideas came from.
We in the Residents Rally believe, as we always have done, that it is important for the local community to have a say in the arrangement of the political structure; not, Mr Speaker, to have agendas outside the ACT, as the two major parties and, to a certain degree, the Democrats have. A group like the Residents Rally, for example, owes no allegiance to anybody outside the ACT. We have responsibility, complete responsibility, to the people of the ACT.
I would like, Mr Speaker, to comment on just a couple of points that were made by Mr Kaine, the ex-leader of the - - -
Mr Wood: It is a further change of direction.
MR JENSEN: Mr Wood said, "It is a change of direction".
Mr Wood: A further change of direction.
MR JENSEN: Certainly it is a further change of direction. I would think, Mr Wood, that maybe not only this parliament but also other parliaments around Australia should seek to provide a greater opportunity for the total community to have a say in their parliament. The constraints of the cabinet system basically keep the people out of the system. We in the Rally, Mr Speaker, have always argued for an improvement and upgrading of the committee system. In fact, later on this afternoon I propose to make some comments on that; so I will not go into that now.
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