Page 975 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 19 April 1994
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Mr Berry: All races?
MR STEVENSON: Mr Berry says, "All races?". This is the former Sport Minister who made horseracing illegal in the ACT. I know that you would not acknowledge it, but any fool can tell that when you make it illegal to cause cruelty or pain to an animal - - -
Ms Follett: I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Mr Stevenson quite clearly is reflecting on a vote in this Assembly.
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Stevenson, I think you could focus your comments on this particular amendment.
MR STEVENSON: As the Chief Minister says that it did not do that, it is not really a vote of the Assembly, is it? It would be - - -
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Stevenson, just talk about the amendment. Let us not push too far into uncertain territory.
MR STEVENSON: That is fair enough, but I notice many comments from the Labor side that go unheeded. There seem to be two rules here.
When we look at names, it is vital that people in Canberra have the right to record a name. If no-one wants to vote for them, that is the voters' business. If people want to vote for them, that is their business. You disregard the Constitution. You disregard the will of the people. You disregard commonsense; it is certainly not commonsense. You disregard the fact that this was always going to be expensive. Before the first election certain people stood up in the ACT and said, "There will be no tax increases and no services will be cut". We all know that to be not true. Those things were said and some people even believed them. People have the right to form parties. As was said, that has not been a problem around Australia. It was a response to this fraud of a Legislative Assembly.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (8.22): I want a quick word, Madam Speaker, just to make it clear to members that it is Mr Humphries's amendment which seeks to restrict the right of parties to register under particular names. I repeat that I believe that the action that has been taken by way of restrictions on non-parliamentary parties has already achieved the objective that we all seek, without taking further overt action to involve the commissioner in what could be some very controversial decisions by seeking to restrict and to define in the legislation certain categories of parties that may not be able to register. I remind members of that point.
MR HUMPHRIES (8.24): Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister mentioned in her remarks that this matter puts into the hands of the Electoral Commissioner a discretion to make certain decisions, to adjudicate on whether names are frivolous or vexatious, and lamented the fact that there was that judgment to be exercised by the commissioner. I agree that judgments and discretions present problems, but they cannot always be avoided. In particular, they are not avoided elsewhere in this Bill. I refer members to a provision just dealt with, particularly proposed new subsection 75(4), where the commissioner is entitled to reject objections to enrolment if he or she believes that they
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