Page 1866 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 1 May 1991
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Assembly Members
MR CONNOLLY (4.28): Mr Speaker, I wish to speak this afternoon for two reasons; firstly, because it is May Day, and Mr Berry well put the importance of May Day; and, secondly, because May Day for me, as well as being a matter of significance for the Labor Party, is the anniversary of my coming to this place. It was on May Day last year that I was appointed to this Assembly under the provisions of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act dealing with casual vacancies. As Mr Moore said to me a few moments ago, it is quite possible that as there will be changes to the electoral system at the next election - we will have either Hare-Clark, which normally operates with a countback, or hopefully, if sanity prevails, single member electorates - I may be the only person ever appointed to this place under those provisions.
Mr Moore: Or any parliament in Australia.
MR CONNOLLY: Well, the Senate allows appointees under the party system. Mr Speaker, it has been an extraordinary 12 months. I have seen bizarre occurrence after bizarre occurrence in my time in this chamber. I have seen resignations from government positions, resignation from governments altogether and changes in parties. The Liberal Party mysteriously sprung from having four members to having five members in my time in this place. I have seen a No Self Government member at my time of entry into this place surviving, narrowly, calls for his resignation, and editorialising, and then mysteriously turning from a No Self Government member into an Independents Group member. Indeed, two No Self Government members turned into Independent members, as opposed to one No Self Government member turning into a Liberal Party member. I do not know whether that says that Independents are twice as good as Liberals, or what; but that is what has occurred.
Mr Speaker, it has been an odd 12 months. I often find it difficult, going around to branches of the Labor Party, to find the appropriate words to describe sometimes the full horror of what occurs in this place with this ramshackle coalition of non-like-minded persons. Governments traditionally, Mr Speaker, are formed of persons of like minds and similar political philosophies; yet, as we so repeatedly see, this Government is purely a coalition of convenience and an alliance of ambition.
Mr Speaker, when I came to this place 12 months ago I said in my maiden speech that I intended to pursue a program of reform from Opposition by way of private members' business, and I have vigorously kept to that. It is interesting to compare the Labor Opposition's program of private members' business with the efforts of both the Liberal Party and the Residents Rally when they were in Opposition. Apart from Mr Stefaniak's move-on powers Bill, there was really very little effort in that direction.
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