John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Let me return to the scene of the crime and the Beattie government. What the Beattie government is doing is riding roughshod over the wishes of the people of many parts of Queensland. We are not trying to compel a ballot in every shire and every council area. We are saying that, if you want a vote, the AEC will conduct it and we will pay for it. I challenge the Premier of Queensland to let the people speak on his amalgamation proposal. Let the people of Queensland decide. Let this be a reminder that, if you remove the checks and balances in our system and have Labor governments at every level, this sort of behaviour will become the norm.

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