Page 2123 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 9 September 1992
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Indeed, it was only yesterday that we learned in this chamber that the Government would be establishing an ACT electoral commission to undertake some of the preliminary work. But where and when was it determined that this step was warranted? Will the commission be permanent, or will it expire after its major task of drawing up the boundaries and collating electoral rolls has been completed? The rolls are currently being reviewed by the Australian Electoral Commission and should be able to be electronically transferred to an ACT electoral commission without too much need for further work. We are indeed entitled to ask: What will be the workload of the commission once its initial task is completed, and what will be the staffing level of such an office?
The Chief Minister has said that work is proceeding on the implementation of the Hare-Clark electoral system. However, I and many others who have had an active interest in the introduction of Hare-Clark want answers to many questions and a commitment that one of the key features of the system, Robson rotation, will be included. There is concern in the community that what the Government is working on is a way to avoid implementing Robson rotation and to leave party factions in charge of the voting agenda. The people of Canberra want and deserve a system which gives them the power over the end result. Robson rotation gives the potential for members to be elected on their merits, not on their party's factional endorsement. In concert with this, the Hare-Clark electoral system as it operates in Tasmania is also closely associated with a ban on using how-to-vote cards within a kilometre of a polling booth. Again, there is a perception that most of the Government's energies are going to go into finding ways to get out of implementing this ban, rather than looking at ways to introduce these aspects as part of the commitment given to implement the will of the people.
I am aware of the defence that all people actually voted for was the Hare-Clark electoral system, no more and no less. This goes against the will of the people in that the debate on Hare-Clark before the referendum concentrated on these aspects as some of the more beneficial of the Tasmanian implementation of the system. Community members attending the Belconnen Community Council's last meeting on 25 August asked me questions on the progress of the implementation of Hare-Clark. My response at that time, more than six months after the election on 15 February, was that Liberal MLA Mr Gary Humphries had formed a working group with the intention of producing legislation, and there had been no word from the ACT Government other than, "Trust us; it will be done in time for the next election".
The Chief Minister, during the matter of public importance debate on 19 May, said that she had committed a Labor government to implementing the choice of the people before the result was known. We may well ask then: Why are we still waiting to see a detailed timetable of what is to come? As members will be aware, the result of the referendum was known quite some time before the election result - and I should know; I have personal experience of that. If the commitment to implement Hare-Clark was so unequivocal, why are we only just now seeing the stirrings of an implementation strategy? While I am pleased that the Chief Minister has given us an outline of the Government's timetable for implementing Hare-Clark, the Government has much to live up to in terms of the expectations of the ACT community regarding the implementation of a Hare-Clark electoral system in time for the next ACT election.
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