Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 4 Hansard (29 March) . . Page.. 1060 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

The main concern expressed by the committee appeared to be with the public perception of an increase in members rather than a rational assessment of the workload and responsibilities of members. There were concerns that self-government was still unpopular with some sectors of the community and that an increase in numbers would just increase the community cynicism of politicians - that they were just creating more cushy jobs for their mates. However, I believe the community's cynicism of politicians relates much more to their individual behaviour rather than the overall number of them. Improving the status of politicians is really a separate issue and I do not think that artificially restricting the number of politicians will do anything to improve this status.

My motion attempts to move on this debate by calling on the Chief Minister to work with the Federal Minister for Territories to give the ACT the legislative scope to increase the number of members. Under the self-government legislation we need to get the approval of the Federal Minister before we can do anything to increase the number of MLAs.

My motion puts forward a number of principles which should guide the decision on the expansion of the number of members. Most are self-evident, but of particular note is that I have suggested that we apply the ratio of one member to 10,000 electors. This is so that there is an objective measure to determine future numbers of members rather than setting up a situation of requiring an argument each Assembly on the number of members that may be appropriate in future Assemblies, with the accusations of self-interest that this may generate.

Similarly, I have suggested that the Assembly be expanded for the election after the election due in 2001. If we were to attempt to expand the Assembly for the next election, not only would this end up being a rushed job but also it would inevitably lead to accusations that the current members are seeking an expansion of the Assembly only to increase their own re-election chances at the next election.

The selection of the date on which the number of electors will be counted in order to apply the ratio is by nature arbitrary. I have suggested that this be the date of the 2001 election, given that the date of the election is already clearly fixed and there will be much effort around this time to get people enrolled. It is true that, with an increasing population, this will result in a smaller number of voters than the actual number of voters who will vote in the subsequent election three years later. But we believe it is better to err on the side of caution when increasing the number of members.

The second point in my motion addresses the issue that not only do we have to agree on an expanded number of members but also we need to determine the number of electorates and the distribution of members between them. At present the Electoral Act is fixed around the current system of 17 members across three electorates of 7, 5 and 5 members, so the Act will need to be made more flexible so that it can handle further expansions of the Assembly.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .