Page 5619 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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granted to the states. Since 1989, the ACT Legislative Assembly has matured, as have the governments it has produced. This Assembly has made significant contributions to public policy and legislative history, notwithstanding the size and youth of our parliament. We have contributed to, and often led, the nation in social and environmental reforms.
We are now a community of over 350,000 people, servicing a growing region exceeding half a million people. The ACT’s citizens are, on average, healthier, better educated and more prosperous than anywhere else in Australia. Today, self-government, in practice and in principle, is firmly embedded in the consciousness of our community.
Only the elected members of this Assembly can claim a legitimate mandate to represent the views of the people of the territory. I have been an elected member of the ACT for six years now, and this responsibility is something that I believe is a privilege. Yet it is an ongoing source of frustration to me that the constituents I represent, indeed all citizens of the ACT, do not enjoy democratic rights comparable with those in other jurisdictions. I am sure the citizens of the ACT, who have their democracy treated in such a dismissive way, are similarly unhappy about the situation.
The self-government act constrains the members of this place in their duties to legislate to reflect the needs, desires, values and aspirations of our constituents. I find it ironic that something entitled the “self-government act” actually works against the self-government of the territory. I can imagine that my colleagues from the states find this situation somewhat humorous. It is truly the Clayton’s self-government act—the self-government act you are having when you do not have self-government.
Subsection 35(2) of the act allows the Governor-General, on advice from the commonwealth executive, to administratively disallow or amend enactments of this Assembly without prior scrutiny or debate in the Australian parliament. It is a direct attack on the democratic principle that others, with no claim to a mandate, may substitute their own views for the views of those elected to represent the people of the ACT.
Members would be aware that Senator Bob Brown has introduced a bill to repeal section 35 of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988, removing the power of the Governor-General, on advice of the commonwealth executive, to disallow or amend enactments of the ACT Legislative Assembly. The power of the commonwealth executive to disallow or amend enactments of the ACT Legislative Assembly is an unwarranted restriction on the democratic rights of ACT citizens and should be removed. I say this as an elected member who wants only that her constituents enjoy the same democratic rights as Australians residing outside the ACT. After all, the federal parliament may legislate to override ACT legislation under section 122 of the Australian constitution. This additional administrative power of the executive is unnecessary.
I support Senator Brown and commend him for his courage and leadership on this issue which is championing the democratic rights of the citizens of not only the ACT but also the Northern Territory and Norfolk Island. I also acknowledge the significant
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