Page 1569 - Week 04 - Thursday, 25 March 2010
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It is what the Liberals would never dream of tinkering with if they were in government. But I fear it is so long since they were in that privileged position that they care little for what damage they do to the institution of government from their position on the opposition-for-opposition’s sake benches.
While there is some legal debate around the extent of separation between the judiciary and other branches in some jurisdictions, this is debate at the edges. There is no credible argument with the fundamental principle of the separation of powers doctrine, the notion that the executive and legislature must remain sufficiently distinct. It is the doctrine that sits beneath and provides strength to the principles of responsible government in the ACT. The legislature’s role is scrutiny of the performance of government. It is not for the legislature to trespass onto the functions of the executive.
The government welcomes the Legislative Assembly’s adoption of the Latimer House principles, which is—if I could, without being provocative, just squeeze in—another important commitment in the parliamentary agreement with the Greens. The Latimer House principles establish a framework for the promotion of the rule of law, good governance and respect for human rights.
It is necessary to understand, however, the extent to which those principles articulate freedoms for the three arms of government, as well as checks and balances for those three arms. In a mature democracy such as ours, the fundamental importance of the separation of powers that underpins the Latimer House principles is not often the subject of explicit discussion. There I was acknowledging that the democracy is mature, not necessarily the legislature.
But recent attempts to subvert that divide indicate that perhaps today’s debate is a chance to refresh everyone’s understanding of the principles involved. The curious thing is that the very party doing the subverting, the Liberals, are the ones who have today proposed that the principles of open and accountable government are a matter of public importance. Of course, we could not agree more. But we do appreciate the irony of the Liberals being the ones to presume to lecture on such matters, probably consistent with their general lack of self-awareness.
The separation of powers doctrine exists to protect individual liberty and constrain the capacity of any arm of government to arbitrarily impose restrictions on individual liberty or otherwise abuse its powers. Importantly, the doctrine also recognises the rights and freedoms of the three arms to exercise their functions. As expressed in the Latimer House principles, each branch of government is the guarantor in their respective spheres of fundamental principles of democratic society based on the rule of law.
One of the obligations created by the Latimer House principles is for each branch of government to respect the proper roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of the others. Just as it would be inappropriate for the executive to interfere in the operation of the courts, there are proper limitations on the Assembly’s powers over the executive.
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