Page 601 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 4 July 1989
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was the position of the Labor Party and, I submit, still is that we should have a system of single-member electorates. It is very interesting, because the Labor Party knows that if we had a system of single-member electorates in this city it would get 17 out of 17 seats, most likely. If you do not call that a gerrymander, I do not know what you would call it.
A member: It is a Berrymander.
MR KAINE: Somebody called it a Kellymander at one stage. It is very easy to come out with some facile words about how we support all this good information that is coming out of Queensland, but we really have to look at our own house first, before we start looking at what they are doing in Queensland.
It mentions the matter of the Public Accounts Committee. I take that very personally because I am the chairman of our Public Accounts Committee. I note that it mentions a couple of things in particular, such as the power of a Minister to veto any investigation or to veto the production of documents and information.
In our standing orders, interestingly enough, we have some things that only Ministers can do. These are in our standing orders, not in the Queensland Parliament's standing orders. I am sure that other members have joined me in raising this question, that it is singularly undemocratic that only a Minister should be allowed to do something on the floor of this house. To use the words that came out of this report, it is scandalous. But what is the Government doing to fix it? Up to this stage, I submit, it has done nothing. Unless the initiative is taken by members on this side of the house, nothing will be done. So we have built into our system some of the things that the Fitzgerald inquiry has brought out.
He is talking about the establishment of a permanent criminal justice commission, and, amongst other things, that would include consideration of the decriminalisation of prostitution and SP bookmaking. I do not know what is the public opinion in the ACT on matters of that kind. I do not think we should be guided by what they think it ought to be in Queensland, however; we should be finding out for ourselves about that.
The remainder of the matters are about the police force. Interestingly enough, that is where most of the thrust of the Queensland inquiry has been directed. Of course, we do not have our own police force. It is all very well for the Chief Minister to talk about what we might do if and when we have our own police force, or what we might do if and when we have negotiation with the Australian Federal Police for the provision of police services here. But I have to say, Mr Speaker, we are getting strong opposition from the Government on the proposal to make life bearable for people using our public transport system. There is a great deal
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