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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 12 Hansard (5 December) . . Page.. 3662 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

Mr Speaker, this is a silly proposal that has been put forward. These are social clubs for people with similar ideas, where they can meet socially and enjoy each other's company. What Mr Moore and the Liberals are trying to do, for an ulterior motive, is to impose a higher order of democracy where it is not deserved. What they are proposing is that a group of friends can get together, come in, take the club over against the wishes of the people who formed it in the first place and use it for purposes other than those for which it was originally designed. That is not what clubs are about. Not everybody gets a vote. If everybody in the community was required to vote on the directions of all of the clubs, it might be a different matter, but they don't. Only the people who choose to belong to the clubs have that choice.

This rule which is proposed here invites takeovers by people who will work against the original interests of the club. It is merely part of that political agenda which is being run by the Liberals. It is about undermining the standing of certain clubs, or seeking to look as though they are undermining the standing of certain clubs, to satisfy some of their supporters.

Mr Speaker, I heard Mr Humphries Gary us again with his protestations about this not having any particular agenda, this not being about undermining the Labor Club, or this not being about undermining the Trades Club.

Mr Humphries: That's right.

MR BERRY: We all know it is. There is any number of people out there that you can think of who will not believe you, Mr Humphries. We know what it is. There is no other purpose behind this push by the Liberals. What I regret is that the Liberals did not have the foresight to form their own club, and Mr Moore as well perhaps, in the 1970s. We would not be having this debate today because they would have their own club. That is the issue here. They did not have the foresight or enough friends to put one together, or they did not trust each other enough.

Mr Speaker, I cannot abide this disingenuous approach that has been taken by members in relation to this. Say it as it is. You are not forced to belong to a club. It is not part of the democratic processes in the territory.

Mr Humphries: It is not part of the democratic process?

MR BERRY: You are not forced to belong to a club. It is a bit like a church, Gary. If you don't like the religion they practise, find another one or start your own.

Mr Hargreaves: They do that.

MR BERRY: People do that from time to time, and it is the same with clubs. If they do not like a club they will try to set up their own. They will gather together some friends, put together a constitution under the relevant laws in the territory, and develop a club for a particular purpose. It rises and falls on its merit, but it should not be presented as a takeover opportunity for a group of people who might have other ideas about it.

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