Page 4911 - Week 16 - Tuesday, 26 November 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
people of the ACT for a new Assembly building. The least they could do is put some of that money into the refurbishment of the South Building, which in the past has been used as a House of Assembly. That building is probably more appropriate because it is located next to Civic Square and next to City Hill. That is the way we should go. Then we could move out of this most inappropriate building.
I would be quite happy to be provided with an electorate office in the Tuggeranong Valley as a member of a multi-member electorate under the Hare-Clark system, because I believe that it is quite appropriate to provide a degree of representation to the people of the Tuggeranong Valley. In fact, I have been doing it for the last 2 years. I noted it with interest when a group of people from the Labor Party, led by that well-known local member, turned up at the Kambah shops the other Saturday morning to launch their single-member electorate proposal for Kambah.
I happened to be sitting in the background. I have been sitting there once a month for the last 2 years, providing a service to the community. I do not need a single-member electorate to do that. I can do it quite adequately now. However, it would be very useful if I, and other members, could have a focus in the area which we represent as representatives of a multi-member electorate within the ACT.
I think it would be quite appropriate to have offices in the major shopping centres where people could go by public transport. Members of parliament all around Australia are provided with such facilities. If we each had an electorate office, all we would need in this place, or in a more appropriate building, would be an office for Assembly sitting periods. We would do what most members of parliament around Australia do - go back to the electorate and keep in contact with the electorate. Ms Follett seemed to be suggesting that that sort of arrangement was inappropriate. I am not quite sure why she would say that, but I certainly detected and noted that in her voice. That arrangement would provide a most appropriate benefit to the community, because it would give them greater access to their local members.
My experience would suggest that the security pass system implemented in this place was, quite frankly, a waste of time and effort. I would not disagree one iota with Ms Follett. Quite frankly, it was a nonsense. That probably has a lot to do with the inappropriateness of this place. That does not necessarily mean to say that there should not be some system to make sure that the sorts of incidents that my colleague Mr Collaery referred to do not take place. It is not only members that we should be concerned about; it is also members' staff. As all members know, most unfortunately, staff members have been harassed by members of the public. That does cause concern to our staff. We get paid for it; they do not. That is something that we have to consider very carefully.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .