Page 1251 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 April 1994
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I would like to compliment the Secretariat for the work that they did in producing a schedule that members of this Assembly could follow in progressively going through at our own pace the many amendments placed before us. I commented at dinner tonight that it was a marked contrast to the debate on the Land (Planning and Environment) Bill which took place in the First Assembly when various amendments were negotiated and passed. The process with this Bill has been very good, and I think that augurs well for the future of this Assembly. Finally, I would like to thank you, Madam Speaker, for the role that you have played in facilitating the process of the debate on this Bill.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (7.41), in reply: Madam Speaker, the greatest significance of the Bill which the Assembly has just passed is that it gives effect to the referendum at which the people of the ACT decided which electoral system they preferred. Members will recall that I gave a commitment very early in the piece to implement the results of that referendum regardless of the result. It will be no surprise to members that the result was not the one which I favoured. Nevertheless, I took that commitment very seriously and have, to the best of my ability, implemented the decision that was made. It is, I think, quite historic that this Assembly has made a decision about its electoral system. We have had many historic moments in the short history of self-government, but an actual choice and the enactment of electoral legislation is, I believe, one of the most significant moments.
Mr Humphries asked about the education scheme on the new electoral system, and that is a fair enough question. Madam Speaker, I believe that, at least initially, that will be a matter for the Electoral Commission to decide. It is part of their duties. I have no doubt that, when they do decide on that public education campaign or scheme, they may well require funding for it. That is something that we will look at in the budget, just as in the coming budget we have to look at funding for the next election. It is a significant item for us and, Madam Speaker, I am very pleased indeed that that funding will now also include a component for public funding for campaigns.
I would like to join with other members in thanking the very great number of people who have had to work very hard on this Bill. Chief amongst those, in my view, are Mr Phil Green and Mr David Wedgwood, whom I have worked closest with. I know that they have spent an enormous amount of time with other members as well. Obviously, the Parliamentary Counsel has had a mammoth job. This is the biggest and most complex piece of legislation that has been in the Assembly. The fact that it has been done concurrently with other major pieces of work, such as the public service Bill and so on, is a real tribute to the Parliamentary Counsel's drafting capacities.
Madam Speaker, I would also like to thank the Electoral Commission again for the work that they did on the first phase of the electoral legislation - that is, drawing up the boundaries and so on - and to indicate that it is up to them now to put this into effect in the ACT community, and I wish them well. I would like to thank the Secretariat as well for the way they handled such an incredibly complex and lengthy piece of legislation, with so many amendments from such diverse sources, all consequential upon each other.
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