Page 3572 - Week 08 - Friday, 24 August 2012
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In terms of some of the headline recommendations, the committee has formed the view that a preamble should be included in the self-government act to clearly describe the purpose of the legislation and the commonwealth’s interests and powers in relation to the ACT. Given the unique relationship between the commonwealth and the territory, we did form a view that the commonwealth does have legitimate interests and powers in relation to the territory, and being explicit about that in the preamble to the act would, we believe, give clarification and a better understanding.
The committee also believes it would be appropriate for a formal recognition of the traditional custodians of the territory to be included in a preamble that might be included in the act.
One of the most vigorously discussed issues was the size of the Assembly. All except one submission suggested that a greater number of members were required for the best operation of the Assembly. The committee considered that after more than 23 years of self-governance the ACT should be able to set the size of its legislature in the same terms as other states and territories in the Australian system of government. In the event that the act is amended along the lines suggested by the committee, that is, for the commonwealth to transfer power to the Assembly, it would be up to a future Assembly to determine an appropriate size. The committee made no comment on what was an appropriate size but we did, however, note that on a per capita basis there is a significant difference between the ACT other jurisdictions.
I think it is also worth noting that the committee recognised that should the power be handed to the Assembly, the requirements of the Proportional Representation (Hare-Clark) Entrenchment Act require a special majority of the Assembly. I think that shapes how the Assembly would need to go about such a discussion. And I think it is also worth noting that the committee received a number of suggestions on how that discussion might take place with the community, through a range of possible forums and community engagement ideas that would ensure that any discussion about increasing the size of the Assembly was one that the community was well engaged in and perhaps had a clear understanding of why that might well be a good thing to do. Certainly many of the submissions to the committee spelt those reasons out very clearly but I think the broader community perhaps has not given it such great consideration as those who are making submissions.
Moving on to some of the other recommendations, the committee also recommends a change to section 16 of the self-government act. This section allows the Governor-General to dissolve the Assembly if he or she believes the Assembly is incapable of performing effectively or conducts its affairs in a grossly improper manner. The ACT government’s wish and suggestion is that section 16 be amended to require the Governor-General to consult with the ACT executive before making a decision, and the committee agrees with this suggestion.
Section 23 provides a list of matters in respect of which the ACT Legislative Assembly is prohibited from making laws. These include matters that remain a domain of the commonwealth, such as the raising or maintaining of any naval, military or air force and the coining of money. A number of submissions suggested
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