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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (29 November) . . Page.. 3439 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

time to time, does generate some interest within the community. There has been some interest around the subject over the last couple of weeks as a result of the debate that has been generated on this occasion. In looking at the form of Ms Tucker's proposal, the Labor Party is of the view that it would be appropriate to seek to determine the views or the attitudes of the broader community in relation to the question of a change in the size of the Legislative Assembly.

I have to say that previously the Labor Party has not been convinced that there was a case for an increase in the membership of the Assembly. Mr Speaker and I did join Mr Osborne on a select committee that inquired into the outcomes of the Pettit review. We did have different viewpoints on that occasion. I put the point in the report on that that I did not believe that the case had been made at that time and that I had concerns about the extent to which the people of Canberra had come to terms with self-government.

We all know in this place that the road to self-government was rough and rocky, that it did meet with some resistance, that there has been and continues to be some residual concern about the move to self-government in the ACT. We of the Labor Party have always been concerned to see self-government bedded down and gaining as much acceptance as parliaments or politicians ever gain in a community. It was a matter of some concern to us.

There were issues around an appropriate configuration in relation to electorates. We are now fully accepting, as is every other member of this place, I am sure, of the Hare-Clark electoral system. It does impose certain quite particular or specific constraints and difficulties on the major political parties. We are quite prepared and happy to seek to deal with those as a political party in this jurisdiction.

I make those comments really by way of some background. There has been considerable debate about this issue. The Labor Party is today signalling that it is prepared to shift somewhat in its attitude to the question of the appropriate size and configurations that might apply to the Assembly. Mr Speaker, I believe I report you appropriately when I say that you dissented on this aspect of the select committee's review, that you were of the view that we should move to 21 members. As I said, Mr Osborne and I were not disposed to make that recommendation at that time.

I think that each of the major political parties in this place acknowledges that there are some difficult political issues and constraints around a decision to increase the number of politicians and to increase the size of the Assembly. I have noted with interest the views that the Chief Minister has expressed on this subject over the last week or two.

A particular comment of the Chief Minister's I noted was that the Liberal Party would be disinclined to pursue an increase in membership at this time in the absence of some understanding of what the broader community thought or felt about the prospect of an increase in the membership. I saw the Chief Minister reported as having said that he would like some other source of advice, some other indication of the feeling within the community about this issue.

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