Page 358 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 December 2008
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Another key theme throughout both the principles and the guidelines to implementation is recognition of the needs to correct the historic gender imbalance that has occurred in many aspects of senior public life. The principles and guidelines recognise that, while judicial and other official appointments must be based on merit, there is also a need to correct the historic gender imbalance that has occurred in the judiciary and many other senior executive positions. The principles also express the need to improve the representation of women in parliament and provide a range of recommended initiatives to this end.
These principles are the clearest available, internationally recognised enunciation of democratic principles essential for good government. The Greens are very proud to be responsible for their adoption in this jurisdiction and excited at the prospects for implementation and the outcomes that this will achieve.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (3.55), in reply: In closing the debate, I would like to thank members for their contribution to this motion. I will just briefly respond to a couple of matters raised by members in debate.
I think first of all it is important to note that what we are endorsing today are the Latimer House principles. As Mr Seselja mentioned in the debate, when you read through into the more detailed guidelines and other material that sits under those principles there are obviously a range of views about implementation; there are a range of views about progressing and achievement and maintenance of these principles in the governance of any particular parliamentary democracy—in this case, the ACT.
The government would share the view that when it comes to the issues of detailed implementation there will have to be discussion and debate. An endorsement of the principles does not automatically mean the endorsement of every single guideline or implementation measure per se. The principles are what is important and that is what we are endorsing today.
Mr Rattenbury raised the issue of the constitutional framework of the territory. I think it is important to stress that, whilst we do not have a constitution in the conventional sense and perhaps one adopted by ourselves or by the people of the territory, as exists in other states or indeed the commonwealth, we do have a constitution, the self-government act.
The self-government act does provide for the protection and the separation of powers. In particular, the powers of our courts are explicitly and deliberately dealt with in the self-government act, recognising that they perform an important function. Equally the relationship between the executive and the legislature is spelt out perhaps in less detail but nevertheless spelt out in the self-government act.
The nature of us as a territory does mean that we do not have the same formal constitutional arrangement as perhaps exists in the states or at the commonwealth level but it is a constitution nevertheless. It is our guiding document. It is the document that lays out the principles for governance in the territory and it is important
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