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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4922 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

referred to previously, of the attitude of residents of the Territory towards self-government. But to do it in the middle of a political campaign - an election campaign - does nothing more than politicise it. It does nothing more than jeopardise its ability to effectively scrutinise and make recommendations on the system of governance we have in this Territory. I just do not think it is appropriate that a government is prepared to jeopardise what it itself says is a good process and an important process by throwing it in in the middle of an election campaign.

There is an important convention in the Westminster system, which is that governments do not make major policy announcements during an election campaign. I know that we have a caretaker period and I know that we have a specified time during which the caretaker period takes effect; but an inquiry which is about the very way that our parliament operates, about the very way that we govern ourselves and make decisions collectively as a community, should not be thrown into the mix of an election campaign. That process jeopardises its ability to make a good decision. That process undermines its effectiveness. That is why the Labor Party does not support it.

That is why Mr Berry's amendment to Mrs Carnell's motion is a sensible one. It says, "Yes, we do need to have an inquiry and a review of governance in the Territory. Yes, those are important things to look at. But do not jeopardise it by putting it in the middle of an election campaign. Do it when the election campaign is completed. When the Fourth Assembly is elected, make sure that the Fourth Assembly instigates a review and make sure that everyone in this place has an opportunity to fairly and evenly participate in what the review should be about, what it should look at, what its terms of reference should be". That is how it should work, Mr Speaker. That is the way to guarantee a fair and effective review - not the process we have been presented with by this Chief Minister.

Mr Speaker, comments have been made about things such as electoral systems. You could take the comments from the Chief Minister to mean that you were not allowed and it was completely inappropriate to look at anything to do with electoral systems. Are electoral systems not the fundamental basis on whether or not we achieve representative democracy in this Territory? Are electoral systems not about making sure that the voice of the people is heard properly in this place through their elected representatives? Is that not what electoral systems are all about? Are they not a fundamental part of governance? The argument is that they are entrenched. That does not mean that you cannot review them. That does not mean that you cannot look at them again. That does not mean that after the next election, when people have experienced the consequences of the changes made by this Assembly in relation to the electoral system, they cannot put their comments to a review. All those things should be allowed to happen because, at the end of the day, entrenchment is there, and the only way that the electoral system can be changed is by a requisite majority of this place. It does not mean that you cannot discuss it

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