Page 253 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 30 May 1989
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It should be said that the veto is certainly not a substitute for government. It works successfully in Switzerland, Italy and 24 States and the District of Columbia in the United States; and during that time perhaps on average there would be two items per year that people really felt strongly enough about that were put to the veto - not many at all. I should also mention that the veto in Canberra certainly could not be used to abolish self-government, self-government legislation of course being federal, and the veto here would simply be for the ACT.
Different forms of citizens' referenda have been used in other countries throughout the world - Denmark, Austria, Canada - and there has been no situation where once the people have had such a power introduced they have ever wanted to relinquish it. People do not want to run government; they just want an occasional say on those things they feel strongly about. When we look at the democratic principles, indeed Australia has been a world leader. We were a pioneer behind New York and New Zealand in introducing the vote for women. We were also the first country in the world that introduced the secret ballot.
The Labor Party in its own right had the principle of citizens' referenda as a major platform plank since its inception in the 1890s. Indeed, in 1908 the Federal Labor Party introduced a citizens' initiative as part of its platform. In 1915 the Queensland Labor Party Government at that time introduced a Bill that included the veto as well as the initiative, the initiative being the ability to introduce legislation and constitutional change. At that time the opposition in Queensland in the upper house disallowed the legislation and it did not go through, although Labor persisted for four more years when it attempted to introduce that legislation three more times. Labor had that principle in its platform right up to 1963 when, at the instigation of Don Dunstan, it was removed.
The Liberal Party in its own right, prior to the 1987 federal election, also had as a policy citizens' referenda. The Democrats have been committed to citizens having the opportunity to introduce things by way of referenda for well over a decade. I feel it would indeed be a proud moment and a proud situation for this Government and the people of Canberra if the ACT were the first area in Australia that introduced the democractic principle of citizens' referenda.
MRS NOLAN (4.30): I rise today in response to the opening address by the Chief Minister, and would also like to echo Mr Humphries' statement of last week and thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing the making of formal maiden speeches. While that all seems so long ago now, I think it is important that that tradition still remain. The tradition surrounding the making of maiden speeches by new members of parliament does, as has already been mentioned, go back a century and more. We as members of the first ACT
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