Page 4681 - Week 15 - Thursday, 16 December 1993
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The first stage, achieved with the passage in December 1992 of the Electoral Act 1992, included the establishment of the ACT Electoral Commission and the mechanism for establishing electoral boundaries. The final stage of that process will be accomplished by passage of this Bill, which amends the Electoral Act 1992 to make detailed provision for the conduct of elections in the ACT.
The self-government Act sets out the parameters within which the ACT electoral legislation must operate. For example, the self-government Act requires an ACT electoral enactment to provide, among other things, for the times of general elections, for an ACT electoral roll, for compulsory enrolment of eligible residents, and for a redistribution of electorates at least every six years. This Bill will meet all the electoral requirements of the self-government Act.
Madam Speaker, the Government has given a commitment to implement the result of the referendum on choosing a voting system for the ACT held concurrently with the Legislative Assembly election on 15 February 1992. The referendum gave electors the choice of adopting the proportional representation Hare-Clark system or the single-member electorate system as the electoral system for the ACT Legislative Assembly.
Members interjected.
MADAM SPEAKER: Order! Members of the Opposition and the Independents will have their chance to debate the Bill in time. Let us have a bit of order.
MS FOLLETT: Thank you, Madam Speaker. A majority of electors voted in favour of the proportional representation Hare-Clark system. The two referendum choices - - -
Mr Moore: I take a point of order, Madam Speaker. Standing order 58 talks about members digressing. I think in this case the Chief Minister is digressing from what was actually in the referendum.
MADAM SPEAKER: I think that is a spurious point of order. Continue, Chief Minister.
MS FOLLETT: The two referendum choices were described in the referendum options description sheet which was included in a schedule to the Commonwealth's Australian Capital Territory (Electoral) Act 1988. While the model proportional representation Hare-Clark system described in the description sheet gives a broad outline of the manner in which such a system would work, it did not seek to specify all matters that must be included in the electoral legislation.
Madam Speaker, as I have mentioned, the Electoral Act 1992 commenced the process of implementing the referendum result by providing for the drawing of electoral boundaries by an independent ACT Electoral Commission. In line with the referendum options description sheet, the Electoral Act 1992 provides that the ACT shall be divided into three separate electorates, with seven members of the Legislative Assembly being elected from one electorate and five members being elected from each of the other two electorates. Accordingly, the ACT was distributed into three electorates on 6 September 1993.
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