Page 3038 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 10 September 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Racing Industry
DR KINLOCH: Mr Speaker, my question is to Mr Berry in his capacity as Minister responsible for racing. In asking this question of the Minister for racing, I note his and the Labor Party's very great interest in the question of electoral reform. I take it that he, like other members of his party, recognises the equity and justice of a proportional representation system in which a range of views are properly represented in government. I understand that the Minister travelled to Darwin at the beginning of August to attend a meeting of Australian racing Ministers. I further understand that the Western Australian Government has raised the question of a downturn in revenue for the racing industry, attributable to a number of factors, including the opening of the gambling casino in Perth. Could Mr Berry reflect on the possibility of discussing this with our own racing industry and what the future may hold for the racing industry if we also open a gambling casino?
MR BERRY: That is a detailed question which I think will require a detailed answer. I am glad that Dr Kinloch touched on the issue of electoral systems. That is indeed worth responding to. I notice that some other members of the Assembly, amongst those opposite, have expressed some concern about the mention of electoral systems at functions attended by Ministers. There was a very good reason for that.
Ministers have an obligation to the ACT community to draw to their attention the best form of government that we can have in the Territory, and that is, of course, a stable government. We have had, with the mob opposite, one of the most horrific periods of instability that any Territory has had to sustain. What the Territory really needs is a system whereby the people will have a guarantee of some sort of stability. It is necessary in that context, of course, to ensure that the community is able to have, as is their expressed desire, access to their own members. All of that, of course, makes members opposite, and some here to the left of me, most upset. They, of course, would not be able to gain the support of a single member electorate because they just do not have it in them.
The Liberal Party are currently squealing about single member electorates, but they did not squeal too much when they had control of the Brisbane City Council. Now that they have lost control of it, they are not so happy about the single member electorate concept. It is a democratic concept and it is one that delivers the best of government to the people of the ACT on two very simple scores. The first is - - -
Mr Collaery: Mr Speaker, I take a point of order - relevance.
Mr Connolly: It was in the question.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .