Page 4689 - Week 15 - Thursday, 21 November 1991
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MR DUBY: I withdraw any such accusation or imputation. But I can well imagine the dreams at night with Mr Berry saying, "If but I could"; that may well be the way it should go. That would be very interesting, as I said, and I wonder how many of the party faithful who do not come from those two factions will rat on the party. All in all, I think this is a matter of interest; I do not know whether it is a matter of importance.
The fact remains that, no matter what this Assembly does, the Federal Parliament is locked into a battle between the two parties. They would not agree to bring in the Senate system, for various reasons - primarily because, in my view, they can see the facts, just as Mr Moore and the great psephologist himself can see, that a Senate system would definitely provide non-party people with the possibility of getting into this Assembly, and that would not be in the interests of the major parties. But I guess I would call on them to do so. I would like members to know that as I was coming into the Assembly this afternoon I met Mr Mackerras in the foyer.
Mr Berry: He did not say that you are going to win, did he? Did he say that you were going to get up? You are in trouble.
MR DUBY: I am very, very disturbed. Mr Berry is alluding to what I am about to come to. Mr Mackerras asked my view on how the referendum would go. I said, "Well, contrary to what a lot of people around town feel, I think it is going to be a close referendum on the electoral issue; but in the long term I feel that the Hare-Clark system will win but not by a great margin". Mr Mackerras upset me - he made me visibly go white - by saying "The Hare-Clark system will win in a landslide". I am worried, ladies and gentlemen, because, whilst Mr Mackerras may well be good on clocks and pendulums, my goodness gracious he cannot tell which way the pendulum will swing, worse luck, and he has invariably got it wrong. So, I hope he changes his opinion. I would love to hear him go public saying, "Single-member electorates will win hands down". I would certainly sleep a lot better at night if he were to do that.
MR BERRY (Minister for Health and Minister for Sport) (4.23): I do not intend to say much, mainly because there is not much time. This issue is not a matter of public importance; it is a matter of drivel. It is really a silly matter; it is not going to have any impact; it has wasted a whole hour of the Assembly's time when we could have been dealing with government business. It is not going to change a thing - it will not change a thing on the hill; it will not change a vote. It will not do anything; I think it is a pointless exercise. But I have to say that, if it becomes a motion, I will move an amendment that includes in it the provision of single-member electorates, because that is the only way to go.
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