Page 2122 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 9 September 1992
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Mr Kaine: Bill is not speculating, either. He is asleep.
Mrs Grassby: I do not blame him. It is awfully boring. If I were not writing I do not know what I would do.
MR CORNWELL: No, it is not boring, Mrs Grassby. We know what the problem is with the ALP. We know that they have been unable to resolve the problem, and therefore they do not want Robson rotation. It takes away the power from the machine men and women of the party and gives it to the electorate. Believe me, there are plenty of people out in the electorate who would be extremely selective, if they voted for the ALP, about the people in the ALP they voted for. The beauty of the Robson rotation is that it not only allows people to vote for some members of the ALP but also allows them to vote for some members of the Liberal Party as well simultaneously. It also allows them not to vote for some members of the ALP. Therefore, people can cast a democratic vote for people in whom they believe, people who have contributed substantially, in their estimation, to the Territory, people who have demonstrated their commitment to the electorate and have not been simply appointed by the number crunchers in the party machines. This is the problem in the ALP causing the delay.
I want to give the Chief Minister and the ALP a very clear message on this. We are, as indeed the electorate is - thanks to Mr Matt Abraham the other day in the Canberra Times - aware of the problems that you face. We are not going to let you get away with not introducing this legislation. As Mr Humphries has already indicated, once again this Opposition is prepared to take up the cudgels, as we did with the Food Bill, the quarterly payments of land tax and, indeed, the methadone legislation. We have led the way and forced the Labor Government to do something. We have forced them to do something in each case, and we intend to do exactly the same thing in relation to the electoral Bill.
Mr Berry: You will not get off. You will pay.
MR CORNWELL: I can assure you, Mr Berry, that we will be only too pleased to introduce an electoral Bill. Thus you will have the choice of either supporting it or perhaps once again being embarrassed enough to introduce your own Bill to try to head off our initiatives.
MS SZUTY (3.38): Members will remember that I addressed the question of the implementation of a Hare-Clark electoral system for the ACT during the matter of public importance debate on 19 May this year, a little less than four months ago. At that time I talked about the issues involved in bringing a Hare-Clark electoral system into being - the determination of electoral boundaries, the provision for Robson rotation and countback, and the possible role of the Australian Electoral Commission.
Since May we have heard that Mr Humphries has drawn together a number of interested individuals with expertise and a commitment to the implementation of a Hare-Clark electoral system to work together in a committee and in a series of subcommittees to examine facets of the electoral system with the object of producing legislation for debate in this ACT Legislative Assembly. Mr Humphries is to be commended for his initiatives on this matter - although, given his reference to my question without notice to the Chief Minister on this issue yesterday, perhaps I should commend his efforts somewhat reluctantly.
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