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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 2 Hansard (10 March) . . Page.. 480 ..

MR HUMPHRIES

through the process of removing references to the Queen before a referendum is held in November of this year on this very subject, is being anti-democratic and insulting the prerogative which we have asked the Australian people to exercise, to make a decision about this matter in November.

Some would argue - I assume Ms Tucker would argue - that we should remove references to the Queen irrespective of whether Australia becomes a republic. That may be Ms Tucker's view and it may be the view of others but I think that, whatever is the appropriate course of action, the symbolism of taking this step only a few months before we are actually to make a decision about a republic could be seen as pre-empting that decision by the Australian community and in some way derogating from the decision taken by the Australian community, as if to say, "We politicians know what is best for you. We know that ultimately you are likely to accept the need for a republic, so we will ease the path for you by just starting to clear away the clutter that blocks our inevitable path to the formation of an Australian republic".

I do not think that is a process which does any credit to the Assembly. I think there are many people who would argue that there needs to be some measure of consultation with the community about this exercise before that step is taken. Ms Tucker in particular has had many things to say about consultation in the past. She has said very often that the Assembly needs to strengthen its processes of consultation. I would have thought that the ultimate consultation is a referendum. It is pretty hard to get anything better than that when it comes to getting people's opinion on something. The referendum in November will be a direct expression, not just by the Australian people as a whole, but by the ACT population as a discrete unit, on what they think about the idea of a republic.

I really think that a measure like this can and should wait until the Australian people have exercised a say on this question of a republic. Whether we should remove references to the Queen is perhaps irrelevant to that. The fact is that the Australian electorate, including every single voter who lives in the ACT in November of this year, will have the chance to decide whether they support the retention of the Queen as our head of state or the move to an Australian republic. For us, in a sense, to say that we are going to ignore that debate coming forward and make a decision now about a closely related issue - should there be references to the Queen in these Acts - could be seen as ignoring or thumbing our noses at the sentiment of the Australian electorate, particularly the electorate of the ACT.

Mr Speaker, I do not make any bones about the fact that I will not be voting for the republic and I do not support the moves that have been taken by Australian republicans, but I do think that it is important that we observe some processes here. It seems to me that these processes are quite wrong. Steps of this kind should not be taken on the eve of an important referendum like that. People will say, and I certainly will say if these Bills pass today, that some politicians have already made up their mind on what is going to happen and are making decisions as if they have won that vote in November. I think that is a great discourtesy to the community and a great insult to the intelligence of the electorate to be able to make this decision at that time. Mr Speaker, I would ask

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