Page 480 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 8 March 2011
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Mrs Dunne: He was doing his duty?
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Members of the opposition, please be quiet.
MS HUNTER: It is his role to take up these issues. I would also like to point out quite clearly that, again, what Senator Brown’s legislation is trying to do is to ensure that if, at the commonwealth level, the parliament believes that a law of the territory should be struck out, should be overridden, at least there needs to be a debate, an open and transparent debate in the parliament, not just this executive override behind closed doors. And in Senator Brown’s case with this road, with this disallowance, guess what? It was a public debate in the parliament. It was not something that was done behind closed doors.
Mr Seselja interjecting—
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: One moment. Mr Seselja, please be quiet.
MS HUNTER: It was done in the parliament. It was transparent. Mr Seselja is very much trying to muddy these waters. And what Senator Brown has on the table with this legislation—
Opposition members interjecting—
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Members of the opposition, please be quiet. I will start warning next.
MS HUNTER: It is very clear. It is a small change but it is an important change. And of course, the Canberra Liberals do not want to say to the people of the ACT, “We are not standing up for your democratic rights.” They do not want that to be the message that goes out there and so they are paddling hard underwater, trying to muddy that water so that the people of the territory will not realise that in the ACT parliament they do not have people they elected properly representing them or pushing their case for democratic rights.
Mrs Dunne has mentioned the word “embarrassment”. I think the embarrassment comes around their colleague in the federal parliament Senator Humphries—I think that is where the embarrassment is—having been put in a very difficult position. He certainly is very pleased and proud that he has managed to get a shadow portfolio. I do not think he necessarily wants to put that in jeopardy. But he certainly in the past has been someone who has come out and said he is championing the rights of the people of the territory. I certainly would hope that he would continue to do that in this case. I think that it will be great disappointment, and I would say a big backflip, if he does not go and support this small change to the self-government act that will improve the democratic rights of the people of the ACT.
I think that is where the embarrassment comes in. I think it is because Senator Humphries is in a difficult position, and so his colleagues in this parliament are going to push a line, put forward a view that is going to ensure that they are not in contradiction with their colleague Senator Humphries.
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